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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent

Liam Payne’s One Direction bandmates among mourners at his funeral

Harry Styles at the funeral service
Harry Styles at the funeral service for Liam Payne at St Mary's Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Members of One Direction and the X-Factor judge Simon Cowell were among the mourners who attended Liam Payne’s funeral.

Payne died aged 31 after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Argentina last month, prompting an outpouring of grief from fans across the world.

His former bandmates, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson, were among those seen attending the private funeral in Buckinghamshire on Wednesday.

Styles arrived alongside the TV star James Corden, while Cowell arrived with his fiancee, Lauren Silverman.

A horse-drawn carriage carried a dark blue coffin topped with white roses, as well as a red floral tribute, which said “Son” and a blue tribute, which said “Daddy”, to St Mary’s Church in Amersham.

Payne shared a seven-year-old son, Bear, with the singer Cheryl Tweedy, who attended the funeral along with her Girls Aloud bandmates Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh.

Before his death Payne lived in the south-east Buckinghamshire village of Chalfont St Giles, close to his former partner and their son.

Other guests included Payne’s girlfriend, the US influencer Kate Cassidy, who arrived alongside Damian Hurley, son of the model Elizabeth Hurley, as well as the This Morning presenter Rochelle Humes and her husband, the former JLS singer Marvin Humes.

Silence fell among the crowd of fans, some holding photographs and flowers, who gathered outside as Payne’s father, Geoff, and his mother, Karen, arrived and stood next to the carriage.

Another floral tribute depicted bowling pins being knocked over by a ball in reference to one of Payne’s favourite pastimes.

Payne rose to fame in 2010 after appearing as a contestant on the ITV talent show The X-Factor as part of One Direction, which went on to become one of the bestselling boybands of all time.

One Direction had a hiatus in 2016. Payne launched his solo career, releasing his debut solo album LP1 in December 2019.

The singer died on 16 October after falling from a balcony at the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires, with an autopsy concluding he had died of multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding.

Fans around the world have held vigils in his memory, as well as creating a shrine to him in his home town of Wolverhampton.

Three people have been charged in Argentina in connection with Payne’s death for supplying narcotics and the abandonment of a person followed by death.

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