| 30/03/95
- Biggest funeral since Churchill
By DAVID WOODING and MIKE SULLIVAN
The Sun
FIFTY thousand Eastenders paid their respects to Ronnie
Kray yesterday in the biggest funeral London has seen
since Winston Churchill's in 1965. The streets around
the Krays' former "manor" were packed as locals
rubbed shoulders with scores of underworld figures.
The mourners included heavies looking like extras from
a mobster movie in dark suits and black shades. Their
molls, with bleached blonde hair, wore slinky black
suits and high heels. Crowds up to five deep flocked
to watch the horse-drawn glass coach carry Ronnie's
coffin on its 13-mile route.
It took in the Bow flyover, the foundations of which
are said to contain the remains of one of Ronnie's victims,
Ginger Marks. One mum in her 20s who had waited in Stepney
for two hours brushed away a tear as the cortege passed
and ordered her toddler son to remove his baseball cap
as a mark of respect.
Bus driver John Radclyffe. 58, who knew the Krays, said:
"People have turned out today to remember the East
End as it was 30 years ago. "If anyone was out
of order, they would be sorted by Reggie and Ronnie.
We are saying goodbye to one of our favourite sons.
The Queen would not get this sort of turn-out.
The whole, of the East End has come to say goodbye to
Ronnie." Thomas Griffiths, 76, of Bethnal Green,
said: "The Krays are just like royalty to me. They
were great people and always used to see you all right
and give you respect. "Nowadays, nobody has any
respect for anyone, but today there's respect for Ronnie
and that's why we're all here "We are remembering
the legend and the spirit of the East End."
Terry McKenzie. 47, from Stratford, said: "Ronnie
was one of the true gentlemen of his age. He never touched
any women or children and he never hurt the man in the
street. "He made his money out of protection rackets.
But in those days, it was almost an honourable trade.
"The only people he ever hurt were other villains
who didn't show him respect. No one can say Jack the
Hat or George Cornell were angels." Steven Veriain,
19, of Chingford, said: "Everybody I talk to says
they were real East End heroes.
"My mum wasn't very happy when I told her I was
going to the cemetery but I reckon Ronnie and Reg must
have been all right. Otherwise all these people wouldn't
have turned up to pay their respects."
Mum-of-two Andrea Palin. 33, from Walthamstow, said:
"Everybody in my family always talks about the
Krays, "They were legends in their time. I know
they did some bad things but they weren't half as evil
as some of the villains around today. "I wanted
to pay my respects because people in the East End stick
together through thick and thin."
Michael Howell, 48 whose entire family of 15 turned
out for the funeral said: "In those days you could
put the key under the mat or in the door and you would
have no fear of getting burgled. "The Kray twins
would sort out a burglary between themselves. Word of
mouth would have gone round the pubs all over the East
End."
Maria Cathia said: "I'm paying my respects to him,
after all he's dead now. Everyone does wrong and it's
forgotten now. Please God, forgive him." And Reg
Harvey, 66, a retired caretaker, said: "It is the
end of an era. "Everyone here is East End born
and bred, and we are remembering how things used to
be."
But not everyone remembered the Krays with affection.
Edward Johnson said: "It's a disgrace, all this
stuff but he's gone now, isn't he." One pensioner,
who did not want to be named, said of the Krays: "They
were cowsons (Cockney expression for bad lads). "They
used to nick apples off my stall when they were kids.
All this stuff is a farce."
Hottest souvenir of the day was a copy of the funeral's
order of service. Some Kray fans even offered money
to funeral staff and journalists to hand them over.
One, carrying a small baby in his arms, pleaded: "Please
let me have one for me mum."
A youngster who had grabbed a pile of them said: "Everyone
wants one they're collector's items. I'm going to flog
them for a few quid each." |
