Reggie Kray's Personal Prison Archive Heads to Auction
A remarkable collection of personal items belonging to notorious East End gangster Reggie Kray, which he kept in his prison cell, has emerged and is now set for public sale. This fascinating archive provides a unique insight into the private world of one of Britain's most infamous criminals during his decades behind bars.
Sunny Memories from Steeple Bay
The archive includes a series of holiday photographs that Reggie Kray preserved to remind him of happier times before his imprisonment. These snaps, believed to date from the summer of 1965, capture Reggie and his twin brother Ronnie enjoying sunny weather at the Essex holiday park where they maintained a caravan.
One particularly striking image shows Reggie driving a convertible car in the sunshine, while others depict a dapper-looking Reggie standing in sand dunes, riding a horse, and posing outside their caravan. There is also a group photograph of the brothers enjoying drinks in the clubhouse during a meeting of the Steeple Bay Caravan Club.
Prison-Cell Possessions and Artistic Endeavours
Beyond the holiday photographs, the archive contains several other personal items that Reggie Kray kept with him during his imprisonment. Most notably, there is a collection of seven landscape paintings created by Kray himself while serving his life sentence.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described these watercolour works as 'naive' in style, with one depicting Dunstanburgh Castle in Northumberland. The paintings represent idyllic countryside scenes that contrast sharply with Kray's prison environment.
Also included in the collection are Reggie Kray's personal copy of the Bible, reflecting his conversion to Christianity while incarcerated, and his own DVD copy of the 1990 biopic 'The Krays' starring Gary and Martin Kemp.
From Prison Cell to Auction House
The items were given by Reggie Kray to a visitor at HMP Wayland in Norfolk in 1999, just one year before his death from bladder cancer at age 66. Accompanying the collection are prison release applications signed by Kray himself, requesting permission to pass these personal possessions to his visitor.
Andrew Aldridge of auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, commented: 'These are some of the prized possessions of one of the most notorious gangsters of the 20th century that he kept in his prison cell. Some of the photos have been seen before, but we can say for sure that these are the original prints that Reggie Kray owned. This archive was given by him to someone who was visiting him in jail.'
The Kray Legacy and Auction Details
Reggie Kray, who alongside his brother Ronnie ran London's most feared criminal gang during the 1960s, became a keen amateur artist during his 31 years behind bars. He was serving a life sentence for the gangland murder of Jack 'The Hat' McVitie when he created these paintings.
His twin brother Ronnie, imprisoned for the murder of gangster George Cornell, died in 1995. Reggie was diagnosed with terminal bladder cancer in 2000 and was released from prison on compassionate grounds that August, passing away on October 1st of the same year.
The entire archive is now coming up for sale, with estimates suggesting the items will fetch hundreds of pounds at the auction scheduled for Saturday. This collection offers a rare glimpse into the personal life of a man whose public persona was defined by violence and criminality, revealing the human dimension behind the notorious gangster legend.
