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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Kyle O'Sullivan

The Kray Twins' surviving family - secret 'daughter' and adopted love child

The Kray twins ruled over London with an iron first - but their reign didn't last forever.

Ronnie and Reggie worked their way up to the top of the criminal underworld through murder, armed robbery, arson and ran protection rackets.

"In the 60s, the Beatles and the Stones ruled the music world; Carnaby Street ruled the fashion world and me and Reg ruled London. We were f***ing untouchable," admitted Ronnie.

In the final episode of tonight's ITV documentary The Secrets of the Krays, we discover the story of their dramatic downfall and how they were finally locked up behind bars.

They desired to be both feared and famous, which is exactly what happened as their legend has only grown since their deaths.

But what about the family members who were left behind?

Ronnie and Reggie Kray didn't officially have any children (ITV)

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Officially, neither Ronnie or Reggie had any children on record.

However, one woman claims she is the secret daughter of Reggie who didn't want to know her.

Sandra Ireson, a 62-year-old mother and gran, claims was born after a brief romance between Reggie and cabaret dancer Greta Harper in 1958.

She says her mother worked at the RR Club in London's West End during the start of the Kray's reign and she was conceived during an eight-month on-off affair.

But by the time Sandra was born the relationship was over so she was raised by her mum's lover Jimmy Steptoe as his own.

"I am his daughter and I couldn't care less who knows," Sandra told The Mirror in 2001. "I don't feel any shame about who my real father is. It's time it was out in the open and the world knew the truth."

According to Sandra, she didn't discover who her real father was until 1995 following the death of Reggie's twin brother Ronnie.

Ronnie, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, died on 17 March 1995 at the age of 61 at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Berkshire.

Charlie Kray (left) and brother Reggie (right) at Ronnie's funeral in 1995 (Press Association)

He had suffered a heart attack at Broadmoor Hospital two days earlier - and Reggie was allowed out of prison to attend his twin brother's funeral.

For the next five years, Sandra tried to forge a relationship with one of the nation's most notorious criminals.

She wrote to Reggie, who was jailed for life in 1969, in prison then got a call back and arranged to meet the man she believes was her father.

In October 1998, Sandra briefly hugged the ageing former mob boss and had an hour-long chat with him inside Maidstone Prison.

"When I first saw him. I remember thinking, 'Oh God he's a little old man'. I expected him to be much bigger than he was and to fill the doorway when he came in," she explained.

"When he first came in he shook my hand and just said, 'We better get this sorted out'. As we talked more he relaxed. He said: "I am not frightened of the truth but I have got to know that it is the truth.

"He said he would leave the ball with me and told me to get back to him. And then when he stood up to go he gave me a cuddle and a kiss on the cheek."

Reggie attending brother Charlie's funeral with a female priest (Reuters)

However, that was the only and last time they would have any contact - and Sandra believes Reggie feared upsetting his wife Roberta.

But a close friend and long-time Kray associate, Jan Lamb, said Reggie wanted people to know about Sandra

"He feared people might use her and her family to get back at him if they knew about his daughter when he was alive," said Jan in 2001.

"But he wanted the world to know about her after he was gone. It was his dying wish."

Following his terminal bladder cancer diagnosis, Reggie was freed from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2000 and died two months later at the age of 66.

Sandra was "distraught" when she found out Reggie had died before they could form a relationship and attended his funeral.

She said: "I would have liked to have known him and for him to know my kids and to have had some sort of relationship. I think it would have given him something."

They are from left to right: Ronnie, Charlie, and Reggie (Popperfoto via Getty Images)

While the twins had no official children, older brother Charlie had a son called Gary in July 1951 with his ex-wife Doris Moore.

Sadly, Gary died of cancer in 1996 aged 44 and was buried in the same grave as Reggie's widow, Frances Shea, in a cemetery in Chingford.

Charlie, who had an affair with EastEnders star Barbara Windsor in the 1950s, died four years after his son due to complications from a heart condition in April 2000.

He also reportedly had a daughter called Nancy, who he believed was his own flesh and blood until and argument with Doris.

Doris blurted out that Nancy was not his biological daughter and her dad was actually another man named George Ince.

Charlie was heartbroken but stayed with Doris for the sake of the kids and continued to raise Nancy as his own.

A few years after Charlie's death, there were reports Nancy had made a request to have his body exhumed for DNA testing to prove he was her biological father.

*The Secrets of The Krays airs tonight on ITV at 9pm

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