Reggie Kray's farewell to brother

Reggie Kray, third left, joins mourners

Former East End gangster Reggie Kray was given prison leave to join relatives and friends at the funeral of his brother Charlie.

Reggie, 66, was handcuffed to a female prison officer throughout the 50-minute service at St Matthew's Church, Bethnal Green, east London.

Reggie Kray: Handcuffed to a police officer throughout service

He was allowed temporary leave from Wayland jail in Norfolk, where he is serving life for murder.

Charlie, 73, died in Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight on 4 April while serving a 12-year sentence for masterminding a cocaine smuggling plot.

Onlookers lining the streets cheered as Reggie was escorted to the service.

Low-key

Inside the church he moved up the aisle smiling and shaking hands with some of the 250-strong congregation, including old friends and underworld associates like "Mad" Frankie Fraser.

The funeral was a much more low-key affair than that of Reggie's twin brother Ronnie who died in 1995.

After the service Charlie's coffin, carried by six pallbearers, was given a guard of honour by a group of Hell's Angels.

Pall bearers carrry Charlie Kray's coffin

Reggie, dressed in a pinstripe suit with turn-ups, travelled in a blue people carrier with painted windows to Chingford Mount cemetery.

The cortege was laden with masses of floral tributes, including a boxing ring in red and white carnations from Reggie.

Charlie was buried in the Kray family plot alongside his mother, Violet, and son Gary, who died aged 44 in 1996.

Among the celebrity mourners were The Bill actor Billy Murray, a character witness at Charlie's trial, and Eileen Sheridan-Price, a friend of the Krays since winning the 1958 Miss UK crown.

"Reg seemed fine, calm and glad to see so many people he knew," she said.