Liam Payne’s funeral took place on Wednesday at St Mary’s Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, several weeks after the One Direction star died after falling from the balcony of a hotel in Argentina
Liam Payne: One Direction and Girls Aloud stars leave funeral service
Several celebrities attended Liam Payne’s funeral on Wednesday.
Zayn Malik and the rest of his One Direction bandmates put their differences aside to attend the funeral, the first time the bandmates have reunited in almost one decade.
Cheryl Tweedy, who was in a relationship with Liam between 2016 and 2018, was also seen leaving the service at St Mary’s Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on Wednesday. The Girls Aloud star wore a black coat and black sunglasses to pay her respects to Liam, 31, following his death in Argentina in October.
Music mogul Simon Cowell was seen embracing Payne’s father Geoff and mother Karen as they left the church. One Direction signed with Simon’s record label Syco Records, after forming and coming third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010.
A horse-drawn carriage took the dark blue coffin with silver handles, which was topped with white roses, to the intimate service. A red floral tribute which read “son” and a blue tribute which said “daddy” were also on the funeral carriage.
The media were invited to the service, held near Liam’s home in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire. Following which, the singer’s coffin was carried to a black Jaguar hearse.
Reporters for The Mirror noted the church was packed with family and friends, many of whom were celebrities from the music industry and other backgrounds. In addition to Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson, from 1D, Cheryl and Simon Cowell, the following stars were seen at the funeral;
- James Corden, TV host and Gavin and Stacey star
- Liam’s girlfriend and social media influencer, Kate Cassidy
- Damian Hurley, son of model Elizabeth Hurley
- Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh supported Girls Aloud bandmate Cheryl
Rev Jonny Rapson, the vicar who led the service, said in a statement to the PA news agency: “We will continue to hold Liam, his family and his loved ones in our prayers on what must have been a very difficult day.”
A handful of local people and fans gathered outside the church 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 around the world held vigils in his memory after his death, and a shrine to him was created in his home city of Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
After the funeral, a GoFundMe page was set up in Liam’s name to “continue Liam’s legacy” by helping to build a new Children’s Cancer Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”, a post-mortem examination report said.