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When the Krays was released, the newspaper Today informed its readers that “We will not become a pawn in the publicists’ tasteless game … We will not carry a review of the film or interviews with any of the people involved in the project. Ron’s largesse was one of the reasons that the Krays needed to capitalise on their name, and among the handy earners was the selling of media rights to his two weddings. Elaine soon found that her role mainly involved running errands for “the Colonel”, as he was known, and they divorced in 1989. The actor in the leading role should have been nominated for an Academy Award –and he was, but not for this part.

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This is a minor point but one that should be pointed out to anybody that might want to learn the full story of the Kray Twins and their gangland empire. The story was that “former gangland boss Ronnie Kray reckons the release of Nelson Mandela could herald freedom for his twin, Reggie. Because the papers needed a good gangster story, the Kray connection meant money for anyone who could sell a story about them.Whatever one’s views on the Krays, they are an essential part of London culture and probably the most popular and infamous British gangsters in history. I have read many books on the Kary Twins over the years but here is one that is the complete works of the life and times of the Krays. If the Krays are a legend, it’s a very sad legend,” Lambrianou said, as we sat outside in the sun and watched the residents head across the lawn into a group meeting. And in today's post 9/11 environment there is a huge push from the ever increasing power of federal government to snitch if you see something "suspicious". People, friends and acquaintances of the Twins, who previously told what they were supposed to say, now began to open up with the truth, the real truth.

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Pearson also wrote "true-crime" biographies, such as The Profession of Violence: an East End gang story about the rise and fall of the Kray twins. Although they were obviously identical twins, Reggie was very different--thinner, quicker, with a certain shifty charm. They stole from other villains and, if a man was starting a club and making a living, they went in and took it off him – and they never gave it back to the poor. The portrait became gangland’s Mona Lisa: copied, pirated and imitated, it was central to their image and their brand. Chris Lambrianou, a member of the Firm, was jailed for his role in the killing of Jack ‘the Hat’ McVitie.

Much more cerebral and wise- when compared with his twin brother, for he is otherwise a mobster- Reggie is the preferred partner. In 1972, Howard Barker wrote Alpha Alpha, featuring “Mickey and Morrie Kersh”, who have a flirtation with the establishment in the shape of “Lord Gadsby” and, as critic Steve Grant put it in Time Out, “In a powerful if strained climax, Gadsby has an orgasm while the twins kill their doting mother. The movie in question was Sparrows Can't Sing starring iconic British actor and Cockney pin-up girl, Barbara Windsor.

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They literally did nothing apart from be twins who got themselves into some tremendously sticky situations they couldn’t get out of. There have been more than 50 books by or about the Krays; the latest, published this summer, was One of the Family, by Maureen Flanagan, a former Page 3 model who used to cut their mother’s hair. Having seen Tom Hardy's film Legend I think the film although entertaining in its own right is too shiny in comparison to the book which shows just how real and dark living in London at that time was.By 1957, they had their own club, the Double R, and their own gang, known as “The Firm”, consisting of a mixture of London heavies, Scottish hard men and bent businessmen. It's a topic that is particularly fascinating to me as my Nan's side of the family are richardsons from the area, the rival gang of the Kray brothers. They spent it on clothes, drinks, giving stuff away, holidays, their place in Suffolk (a fancy country pile sold to pay for the legal costs). At one point, he told me about his plans for an exercise manual for people confined to small spaces. The fact that the film was made with the twins’ full cooperation was a clear indication that their brand was more important to them than their freedom; had Reggie been serious about getting parole, he would have been obliged to express regret for the murders and keep a low profile.