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The Peer and the Gangster: A Very British Cover-up
In July 1964, the Sunday Mirror ran a front-page story headlined: PEER AND A GANGSTER: YARD ENQUIRY. While withholding the names of the principal subjects, the newspaper reported that the Metropolitan Police had ordered an investigation into an alleged homosexual relationship between ‘a household name’ from the House of Lords and a leading London underworld figure. Bob Boothby was the Conservative lord in question, and Ronnie Kray the gangster. The story threatened a scandal more explosive than that of the previous year’s Profumo affair, which had brought an end to Macmillan’s premiership. So began one of the most extraordinary cover-ups in British history - a rapid rear-guard action involving eminent figures from the political firmament (including the then Prime Minister and Home Secretary), the Security Service, the Metropolitan Police, the legal profession and the media. Within a couple of weeks the story had been killed off. Now, for the first time, the full saga of the cover-up - and its far-reaching consequences - can be revealed.
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 22, 2020
Just months after the Profumo scandal the Conservatives found themselves mired in another scandal. The Sunday mirror led with a story entitled "The peer and the gangster" - this alleged that a well known and popular peer of the realm was having a homosexual relationship with a London underworld gangster and the article promised to publish pictures in due course. A week later and many knew the identity of both men: Lord Boothby and Ronnie Kray, and the newspaper was barred from publishing its photos. Days later the story had disappeared, the mirror was forced to write an apology and Lord Boothby got 40,000 in damages. So why did Britain's two political parties come together to save the career of a bumbling eccentric yet charming peer? Here Smith goes all the way back to the 1920s to discover where the roots of this cover up started. A terrific read.
September 17, 2021
The Sunday Mirror thought that it had the scoop of the century in July 1964 when it ran a front-page splash about a prominent peer and a London gangster who were having a homosexual affair. By the following Sunday, the paper had obtained photographs of the two men with drinks in their hands, clearly at ease in each others’ company, yet by the following month, the Sunday Mirror had issued a grovelling apology and paid the goodly sum of £40,000 to the peer.
The peer was Bob Boothby, a very well known radio and television personality in the post-war years. The gangster was Ronnie Kray, who ran the Kray Twins’ gang along with his heterosexual brother, Reggie. Daniel Smith’s book is the story of how and why the tale of these two charmers did not see the light of day for many decades.
Boothby was not a very popular man in senior Tory circles. He had been the lover of Dorothy MacMillan, wife of Harold who just happened to be the Prime Minister for many of the years when the relationship between Boothby and Kray was in full swing. One would have thought that Harold MacMillan would have wanted to pay back Robert Boothby with interest for putting the horns on him, but the a-sexual MacMillan just seems to have shrugged his shoulders at the affair. That was probably Boothby’s first bit of luck.
His second came about because the story was set to break in the wake of the Vassall scandal and then the Profumo affair which followed hard on its heels. A third sordid scandal was too much for the government to stand so the order went out to give Boothby a helping hand. Thus a key hinge to the Sunday Mirror story, which was that the Metropolitan Police were investigating the Krays was kicked away when the compliant Met obligingly denied that any such investigation was taking place.
Labour wanted to take over from the Tories as the government but they chose to help that government save Boothby’s political skin. So, Harold Wilson sat back whilst the Labour connected lawyer, Arnold Goodman, went to work putting the screws on the Sunday Mirror.
Ronnie Kray was not just involved with Bob Boothby, he was also a crony of Tom Driberg, who was a homosexual Labour MP. For Wilson, this was about saving Labour as much as anything else. Boothby was obviously bisexual, but there was enough normal sexuality about him to suggest that he might have been able to shrug off the allegations of inversion. That was not the case with the ever-cottaging Driberg who had no interest in women at all. Had the story been allowed to break, it is quite likely that Labour would have been dragged into it via Driberg, so Wilson seems to have decided that it was better to cover it all up.
The Sunday Mirror provided Boothby’s final card with its poorly-worded story which claimed that the affair was between the peer and the gangster. Kray had no interest in the fat, over-60, Boothby, what drew them together was a shared desire for "boys," as they both called the late-teenaged, early-twenties young toughs that came within Ronnie Kray’s orbit and who he passed on to Boothby.
The relationship between the peer and the gangster, stripped of its homosexuality, was really one of those classical upper-class and working-class meetings of minds based upon a set of shared values. Put bluntly, both groups enjoy their drink, change their bed partners regularly and both loath the anally retentive middle-class.
That is probably one of the reasons why working-class people vote for Boris Johnson because he is what they would be if they had money. At the mid-1980s Oxford, Boris was very popular with the former miners, steelworkers and dockers who made up the bulk of the Ruskin College junior membership and quite happily voted for him every time he stood for Oxford Union office; and that was at the height of the miners’ strike. I know, as I am the Ruskin man who introduced Boris to my fellows.
The unpleasant aspect of this affair was not the easy sex and louche attitudes of everyone involved. Rather it was the fact that thanks to an establishment cover-up the Krays were allowed to continue wreaking havoc for five more years that left at least two people dead and any number of young men coerced into having sex with Ronnie Kray and Bob Boothby.
One of Kray’s victims was a very young reporter with the Daily Telegraph, who was only able to escape thanks to the intervention of Reggie Kray, but that did not stop Ronnie from sending him on his way with a kick or two. Nor did it stop him ordering some underthugs to go and dish out a serious kicking to the poor hack some weeks later. As he was left, battered and bleeding on the road, the message was given that it was the price he had to pay for defying Ronnie Kray. If that could be done to a broadsheet journalist then the price that a young Eastender would have to pay for defiance does not bear thinking about. That Boothby knew that his playthings had been coerced is beyond doubt since at least one was produced for him battered and bruised and told firmly that if he did not please Boothby he could expect more of the same.
This is the sickening aspect of the Boothby/Kray story. It demonstrates that from Boothby via Jeremy Thorpe to Cyril Smith, the list of homosexual abusers really does seem to be never-ending and all with the connivance of an establishment that seems to be indifferent to the fate of the victims.
An edited version of my review has appeared in The Brazen Head, a quarterly online literary and political journal. https://brazen-head.org
The peer was Bob Boothby, a very well known radio and television personality in the post-war years. The gangster was Ronnie Kray, who ran the Kray Twins’ gang along with his heterosexual brother, Reggie. Daniel Smith’s book is the story of how and why the tale of these two charmers did not see the light of day for many decades.
Boothby was not a very popular man in senior Tory circles. He had been the lover of Dorothy MacMillan, wife of Harold who just happened to be the Prime Minister for many of the years when the relationship between Boothby and Kray was in full swing. One would have thought that Harold MacMillan would have wanted to pay back Robert Boothby with interest for putting the horns on him, but the a-sexual MacMillan just seems to have shrugged his shoulders at the affair. That was probably Boothby’s first bit of luck.
His second came about because the story was set to break in the wake of the Vassall scandal and then the Profumo affair which followed hard on its heels. A third sordid scandal was too much for the government to stand so the order went out to give Boothby a helping hand. Thus a key hinge to the Sunday Mirror story, which was that the Metropolitan Police were investigating the Krays was kicked away when the compliant Met obligingly denied that any such investigation was taking place.
Labour wanted to take over from the Tories as the government but they chose to help that government save Boothby’s political skin. So, Harold Wilson sat back whilst the Labour connected lawyer, Arnold Goodman, went to work putting the screws on the Sunday Mirror.
Ronnie Kray was not just involved with Bob Boothby, he was also a crony of Tom Driberg, who was a homosexual Labour MP. For Wilson, this was about saving Labour as much as anything else. Boothby was obviously bisexual, but there was enough normal sexuality about him to suggest that he might have been able to shrug off the allegations of inversion. That was not the case with the ever-cottaging Driberg who had no interest in women at all. Had the story been allowed to break, it is quite likely that Labour would have been dragged into it via Driberg, so Wilson seems to have decided that it was better to cover it all up.
The Sunday Mirror provided Boothby’s final card with its poorly-worded story which claimed that the affair was between the peer and the gangster. Kray had no interest in the fat, over-60, Boothby, what drew them together was a shared desire for "boys," as they both called the late-teenaged, early-twenties young toughs that came within Ronnie Kray’s orbit and who he passed on to Boothby.
The relationship between the peer and the gangster, stripped of its homosexuality, was really one of those classical upper-class and working-class meetings of minds based upon a set of shared values. Put bluntly, both groups enjoy their drink, change their bed partners regularly and both loath the anally retentive middle-class.
That is probably one of the reasons why working-class people vote for Boris Johnson because he is what they would be if they had money. At the mid-1980s Oxford, Boris was very popular with the former miners, steelworkers and dockers who made up the bulk of the Ruskin College junior membership and quite happily voted for him every time he stood for Oxford Union office; and that was at the height of the miners’ strike. I know, as I am the Ruskin man who introduced Boris to my fellows.
The unpleasant aspect of this affair was not the easy sex and louche attitudes of everyone involved. Rather it was the fact that thanks to an establishment cover-up the Krays were allowed to continue wreaking havoc for five more years that left at least two people dead and any number of young men coerced into having sex with Ronnie Kray and Bob Boothby.
One of Kray’s victims was a very young reporter with the Daily Telegraph, who was only able to escape thanks to the intervention of Reggie Kray, but that did not stop Ronnie from sending him on his way with a kick or two. Nor did it stop him ordering some underthugs to go and dish out a serious kicking to the poor hack some weeks later. As he was left, battered and bleeding on the road, the message was given that it was the price he had to pay for defying Ronnie Kray. If that could be done to a broadsheet journalist then the price that a young Eastender would have to pay for defiance does not bear thinking about. That Boothby knew that his playthings had been coerced is beyond doubt since at least one was produced for him battered and bruised and told firmly that if he did not please Boothby he could expect more of the same.
This is the sickening aspect of the Boothby/Kray story. It demonstrates that from Boothby via Jeremy Thorpe to Cyril Smith, the list of homosexual abusers really does seem to be never-ending and all with the connivance of an establishment that seems to be indifferent to the fate of the victims.
An edited version of my review has appeared in The Brazen Head, a quarterly online literary and political journal. https://brazen-head.org
May 12, 2021
3.5 stars. A genuinely interesting, gossipy espose of some of the many webs of influence, crime, and sex that were woven through mid 20th century politics.
July 25, 2022
This book did not disappoint. It was a very well researched, and a thought provoking read. There are some things that I didn't know. And they were explained extremely well. It is a good page turner and I finished this within two days. It also explains the relationship between Bob Boothby and Ronnie Kray, starts quite innocently enough. But behind the scenes Boothby was more involved than he let on, and how he was determined to play this down, as much as possible. They do make an odd couple, and you wouldn't put them together as they look so unsuited. But it goes to show that money and power speak volumes. It also explains in depth, the Profumo affair and it's repercussions. As well as a couple of MPs who were gay, but did not do a lot to hide it, or be discreet. At a time when homosexuality was illegal. But I give credit to Lord Boothby, for standing up for gay rights, in his eloquent, sympathetic, use of the English language, which he was so good at. An excellent read, highly recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2022
I listened to this on Borrowbox but couldn't find an audio edition to leave review against.
I think because it was audio, I got a bit lost with names & and plot at times which I think would have been easier if I'd read it.
I preferred the Christine Keeler book I listened to and 100% preferred John Preston's A Very English Scandal, both of which crossover with this book. It was interesting and I enjoyed hearing about Boothby, about whom I knew nothing before. I also didn't know much about the Krays so it was enlightening and sadly not shocking to learn about the cover up.
I think because it was audio, I got a bit lost with names & and plot at times which I think would have been easier if I'd read it.
I preferred the Christine Keeler book I listened to and 100% preferred John Preston's A Very English Scandal, both of which crossover with this book. It was interesting and I enjoyed hearing about Boothby, about whom I knew nothing before. I also didn't know much about the Krays so it was enlightening and sadly not shocking to learn about the cover up.
November 19, 2020
An exceptionally well-constructed analysis of the Boothby/ Kray saga but also British society at the time. More importantly, it pins the lessons of that era firmly to life today. Brilliant and entertaining read.
February 25, 2022
The Establishment… A gangsta, a peer and a the cover up….well it’s the establishment ain’t it! A couple of loathsome guys if ever there were any. The usual money,greed and sex involved. Bought as a BOGOF.
February 14, 2021
Historically fascinating and salacious. The narrative sometimes gets a bit lost in its structure, but a really enjoyable read and insight into the “Establishment”
scandal that was covered up.
scandal that was covered up.
June 15, 2022
I picked this up from a library selection for pride month and though this proves interesting, the rating is dampened by the extensive political background and casual descriptions of abuse.
January 11, 2023
if you know the names youre fine but its fucking confusing after like ten chapters im the end i was j reading it to finish it cause christ hard to get through that
February 13, 2022
Incredibly peer focused, not so much gangster. So I’d recommend reading up on the kray twins before reading this to get the full effect. Interesting and well researched but can get bogged down at times.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews