When George Cornell sat in the Blind Beggar pub in 1966, he made the fatal mistake of calling Ronnie Kray a "fat poof." Minutes later, Ronnie walked in and shot him in the head. It’s one of the most famous murders in British history, but the motive wasn't just gang rivalry. It was about an insult that hit a very raw, very specific nerve.
Honestly, the story of reggie and ronnie kray gay or bisexual identities is way more complicated than the movies make it out to be. We’re talking about the 1950s and 60s in London’s East End. This was a time when being gay wasn't just a social taboo—it was literally a crime until 1967. For two men who built an empire on "masculinity" and fear, their private lives were a minefield.
Ronnie Kray: The Gangster Who Didn’t Care
Ronnie was the twin who eventually stopped hiding. While most people in the underworld were terrified of being outed, Ronnie Kray was surprisingly blunt about his preferences. He famously said, "I’m homosexual but I’m not a poof." To him, there was a distinction. He viewed himself as a "warrior" and a "giver." In his mind, his toughness and his violence exempt him from the stereotypes of the time.
He didn't just have quiet flings. Ronnie was known for having "boys" around him—young, clean-cut men with white teeth, often referred to as his "donkeys."
The Lord Boothby Scandal
You've probably heard about the Sunday Mirror mess in 1964. The paper tried to run a story about a "homosexual relationship" between a peer of the realm (Lord Boothby) and a "leading figure in the underworld" (Ronnie). The Krays didn't just sue; they intimidated. They forced a retraction and a £40,000 payout.
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The kicker? MI5 files released decades later showed that while the paper couldn't prove it, the relationship was real. Boothby and Ronnie were both "hunters of young men" who shared a social circle of rent boys and West End fixers. They weren't necessarily dating each other, but they were definitely part of the same underground gay scene.
Reggie Kray: The Closeted Twin?
If Ronnie was "out" in his own violent way, Reggie was the opposite. Most researchers and former associates, like Bradley Allardyce and the twins' biographer John Pearson, suggest Reggie was bisexual but deeply ashamed of it. He felt he had to maintain the image of the traditional East End "lad."
He married Frances Shea in 1965, but the marriage was a disaster from day one. Rumors have persisted for years that it was never consummated. Frances ended her own life just two years later, and many believe the pressure of Reggie’s hidden life played a huge role in that tragedy.
The "Twin Secret"
There’s a darker side to the reggie and ronnie kray gay narrative that often gets glossed over. John Pearson, who spent a lot of time with the twins, claimed that Ronnie once confessed they had sex with each other during their teens.
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"According to Ron, for quite a while they were so concerned to keep their secret hidden that the only sex they had was with each other."
That’s a heavy claim. Whether it was a product of Ronnie’s deteriorating mental health (he was eventually diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia) or a genuine admission of an incestuous bond born out of isolation, it shows how insular their world was. They didn't trust anyone else with their true selves.
How They Got Away With It
You might wonder how two of the most famous men in England stayed "in the closet" while everyone basically knew. It was a mix of two things: terror and celebrity.
- The Fear Factor: If you talked about Ronnie’s boyfriends, you might end up in the Thames. It’s that simple.
- The Celebrity Shield: They owned the Double R club. They hung out with Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and Barbara Windsor. In the "Swinging Sixties," people were willing to look the other way if you were part of the elite.
Even their mother, Violet, knew. While their father and older brother Charlie were reportedly horrified, Violet was protective. In a world that hated them for being criminals and hated them for their sexuality, she was the only one who didn't judge.
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The Legacy of the "Queer Machismo"
The Krays weren't gay icons. They were violent, mentally ill criminals who used their power to exploit people. But they do represent a weird, dark chapter in LGBT history. They proved that the "tough guy" image of the East End was often a performance.
Ronnie eventually married twice while in prison—to Elaine Mildener and Kate Howard—but these were largely seen as marriages of convenience or publicity. He remained open about his attraction to men until his death in 1995. Reggie, however, took many of his secrets to the grave in 2000, only truly being "outed" by the people he left behind.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you're looking to dig deeper into the actual evidence regarding the Krays' private lives, here is where the real information is buried:
- Read the MI5 Files: Look into the 1964 Lord Boothby investigation files. They provide the most objective "outsider" view of the gay underworld the Krays inhabited.
- Consult John Pearson’s Later Work: His book Notorious contains the admissions the twins made late in life that weren't included in the original 1960s biographies.
- Visit the Local Sites: If you're in London, the Blind Beggar and the sites of their former clubs still exist. Seeing the physical proximity of these locations helps you understand how tightly-knit and gossipy the East End was—making their "secret" all the more impressive.
- Distinguish Film from Fact: Movies like Legend (2015) do a decent job of showing Ronnie's openness, but they often romanticize Reggie's relationship with Frances. Always cross-reference cinematic portrayals with court transcripts from the 1968 Old Bailey trial.
The reality of the Kray twins wasn't a glamorous movie; it was a messy, violent struggle for identity in a world that wasn't ready for them—and that they weren't ready to face honestly.