A woman dubbed the Godmother can remember a night where she saw Princess Margaret on one table and the Kray twins on another.
Eileen Sheridan-Price, the first Miss UK, of Hamm Court, Weybridge, still lives a life full of memories of notorious 1960s gangsters Ronnie, Reggie and Charlie Kray.
She said: “People seem to think I act a bit like a female Godfather.”
She has photos of the violent crime family adorning her windows, she travelled in a stretch limo with a minder for years, she even had alsatians patrolling her home and got a large white-flowered wreath with the word Legend made for Reggie’s funeral in 2000.
The former model now says she has a strong suspicion this was the inspiration behind the title of the film Legend, charting the life of the twins, to be released tomorrow.
She said: “I got the feeling that they picked that title from my idea.”
Mrs Sheridan-Price first met Charlie and Reggie Kray in 1958 when she was 22, in the Churchill’s nightclub in London, while she competed in the Miss World contest.
She said: “They were beautifully dressed, beautifully turned out and softly spoken, and obviously I don’t know all the things that went on behind the scenes, but they treated women with respect.”
One evening she remembers that Ronnie, who she said was more aloof, noticed a woman shivering outside a club and, being “the gent” that he was, gave her the big overcoat he was wearing, she said.
“They treated me with great respect. They wouldn’t allow swearing in front of ladies.”
Also being a pageant pro, part of her job during and after the beauty contest was “pushing a pile of pennies” by appearing at various venues and clubs – and Mrs Sheridan-Price would often be asked to appear at the Krays’ club.
Although she speaks of the crimes the family committed, “the big ones”, she thinks, were more “playing at being gangsters”.
Of the brothers she was closest to Charlie, but struck up a friendship with Reggie and often wrote and spoke to him when he was in prison.
She said: “When Ronnie died in 1995 I got a phone call from Reg. He was asking would I come to the funeral.”
After Charlie’s funeral, Reggie called her and told her the wreath she had made for his brother, a sun, was “class”.
She said she remembered thinking she would give him [Reggie] a wreath suitable for a legend when he died.
The film Legend, starring Tom Hardy as both twins, will be released on Wednesday. This day also happens to be Mrs Sheridan-Price’s wedding anniversary.
Now 79, ideally she would have liked to have spent the day with her late husband, but an evening with Ronnie and Reggie at the cinema in Walton High Street, followed by a drink at the Watermans pub afterwards, “will do just fine”, she said.
Her minder Jimmy Blue Eyes will escort her, like a true Godmother.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here