With thousands lining the streets to pay their respects and police outriders leading the route, it looked like the send-off of a much-loved local hero.
And to those who were prepared to see past his myriad misdeeds and savage brutality, the murderer Ronnie Kray was exactly that.
For many others, his victims included, the East End gangster’s last goodbye was an exercise in unwarranted indulgence.
The funeral of the murderer, who died 30 years ago today, involved traffic controls, huge crowds of onlookers, ostentatious floral tributes and high-profile attendees.
Chief among the mourners was Ronnie’s brother Reggie, who was on day release from the murder sentence that was handed down alongside his brother’s in 1969.
Also there were other gangland scions, including older brother Charlie and former enforcers ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser and Freddie Foreman (father of actor Jamie.)
East End girl Barbara Windsor, who had been a long-time supporter and friend of the Krays, sent flowers after saying her attendance would be a media circus.
The opening music to the service inside St Matthew’s Church inside Bethnal Green was Frank Sinatra’s iconic track ‘My Way’ – the song that has repeatedly been named the number one choice for funerals.
Thousands of people line the streets as the funeral cortege of Ronnie Kray passes by, March 29, 1995
Reggie Kray – seen cuffed to a police officer – winks to a photographer as he arrives for the funeral of his brother Ronnie
Heavy set minders stand outside the funeral parlour on the day of Ronnie Kray’s funeral
Ronnie, who was a paranoid schizophrenic, died at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough shortly after 9am on March 17, 1995.
He had continued to be a heavy smoker right up to his death.
His passing came two days after he collapsed at Broadmoor, the high security mental hospital where he was serving his sentence for the murders of George Cornell and Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie.
Ronnie, who was gay, shot Cornell between the eyes in the Blind Beggar pub on the Mile End Road in March 1966 after his rival called him ‘that fat p****’.
The following year, Reggie, egged on by his brother, stabbed McVitie to death in a flat in Stoke Newington.
The pair were both handed a minimum 30-year sentence after what was the longest and most expensive trial in criminal history.
The brothers had developed a vast protection and extortion racket network across the capital whilst mixing with celebrities.
Those who refused to fall into line were dealt with savagely.
A police mugshot shows Ronnie Kray after his arrest for murder in May 1968
Reggie Kray alongside former associate ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser at Ronnie’s funeral
On the morning of the funeral, a huge crowd watched as Ronnie’s coffin was carried out of the funeral parlour on Bethnal Green Road and loaded onto a horse-drawn hearse
Minders in dark suits stand alongside mourners at the funeral of Ronnie Kray
Reggie Kray seen walking next to police officers at his brother’s funeral
Reggie, who was banged up at Maidstone Prison in Kent, found out about his brother’s death from a fellow inmate who had heard the news on the radio.
On the morning of the funeral, on March 29, a huge crowd watched as Ronnie’s coffin was carried out of the funeral parlour on Bethnal Green Road and loaded onto a horse-drawn hearse.
On its way to the church, the procession stopped in Vallance Road, where the home that the Krays grew up in had once stood.
Reggie’s floral tribute on the side of the hearse read: ‘To the other half of me, from Reggie.’
On top of the hearse was a floral boxing glove from ‘a black widow’ and the ‘girls from H-wing at Durham Prison’.
One wreath, perhaps optimistically, depicted the gates of heaven.
The service sheet told attendees that ‘Charlie and reg would like to include in this service friends who cannot be here today.’ It added: ‘Friends from Broadmoor and prisons.’
Mourners sang well-known hymns Morning Has Broken and Fight the Good Fight.
Minders guard floral tributes outside the funeral parlour where Ronnie Kray’s body was held before his funeral
Ronnie Kray’s horse-drawn hearse passes through East London
Reggie Kray seen with his older brother Charlie at Ronnie’s funeral
Charlie Kray helps carry his brother’s coffin at his funeral, March 29, 1995
Ronnie Kray’s coffin is loaded back into the hearse on the day of his funeral
Ronnie Kray’s funeral cortege passes through East London as police guard the route
Reggie’s floral tribute on the side of the hearse included the words, ‘To the other half of me’
Father Chrostpher Bedford, who oversaw the service, said: ‘I’m the parish priest, and in the end Ronnie Kray was a Bethnal Green boy and it’s a duty to command his soul to God and minister to him in these circumstances.
‘I don’t make any judgments. God is the judge, and thank God for that because he is a better judge than me.’
Reggie, who was allowed to sit without his handcuffs for the service, listened quietly.
Afterwards, the hearse carried Ronnie’s coffin the eight-mile journey to the family plot at Chingford Mount Cemetery.
Along the route, pavements were lined four-deep with people cheering.
After saying goodbye to his brother, Reggie was returned to prison.
He died with cancer on October 1, 2000, just weeks after being released from prison on health grounds.
