Stars gather to pay respects at Liam Payne's funeral

The private service for the One Direction star was held in Buckinghamshire

Fans have left dozens of tributes in Liam's hometown of Wolverhampton
Author: By Claire Emms and PA reportersPublished 20th Nov 2024
Last updated 20th Nov 2024

Members of One Direction and former partner Cheryl were among the friends and family paying their final respects to Liam Payne at his funeral today.

Singers Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson reunited alongside other mourners at the private funeral in Buckinghamshire to remember Wolverhampton-born Payne following his death aged 31 in Argentina last month.

Girls Aloud star Cheryl, who was in a relationship with Payne between 2016 and 2018, was seen leaving the service at St Mary's Church in Amersham wearing a black coat and black sunglasses.

Music mogul Simon Cowell was seen embracing Payne's father Geoff and mother Karen as they left the church.

A horse-drawn carriage carried the dark blue coffin with silver handles and topped with white roses to the service.

On top of the carriage, there was a red floral tribute which said "son" and a blue tribute which said "daddy".

Following the service, his coffin was carried outside and placed inside a black Jaguar hearse.

Pop star Styles, dressed in all black, arrived at the service in a BMW alongside TV star James Corden, while X Factor judge Cowell arrived with his fiancee, Lauren Silverman.

Horan attended alongside his girlfriend Amelia Woolley, while Malik arrived to the church shortly after Tomlinson.

Other guests attending include Payne's girlfriend, US influencer Kate Cassidy, who arrived alongside Damian Hurley, the son of model Elizabeth Hurley.

Girls Aloud singers Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh, who wore long black coats and sunglasses, also supported their bandmate Tweedy by attending the service.

Prior to the funeral starting, dozens of locals and fans gathered to pay their final respects to Payne, who died on October 16 after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.

Fans have gathered in his home town of Wolverhampton and laid fresh flowers at a band stand at West Park.

Dozens of tributes left in West Park, Wolverhampton - Liam's hometown

He rose to fame alongside Styles, Tomlinson, Malik and Horan when Cowell put them together to form One Direction on ITV talent show The X Factor in 2010.

Payne later went on to launch a successful solo career, releasing his debut solo album LP1 in December 2019, which included the songs Polaroid and Strip That Down featuring Quavo.

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