Liam Payne’s former One Direction bandmates reunited Wednesday to say goodbye to their friend. Just over a month after he died at the age of 31 following a fall from the third-floor balcony at a Buenos Aires hotel, Payne’s former bandmates – Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan– arrived at St. Mary’s Church in Amersham, England as the singer was laid to rest in a private funeral service.
Images shared by TMZ showed the former boy band members arriving to the London-area church dressed in all black for the service, which was attended only by family and close friends, per Daily Mail. In addition to the One Direction members, Simon Cowell, who notably formed the boy band on The X Factor back in 2010, attended with his fiancée Lauren Silverman. Payne’s girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, as well as his parents, Geoff and Karen, were also in attendance, with the New York Post reporting that James Corden was also pictured arriving for the memorial. Details of the service haven’t been shared, but TMZ reported that Payne’s coffin arrived in a horse-drawn carriage.
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The private service comes a month after Payne’s death and two weeks after his father brought the former One Direction singer’s body back from Argentina, where he died on Oct. 16 after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Hotel. An autopsy revealed the singer died of multiple injuries and external trauma and found that those injuries were neither the result of self-harm nor physical intervention by others. Officials do not believe his fall was intentional. The singer reportedly had multiple substances, including “pink cocaine,” in his system at the time of his death, the investigation concluding that he “was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall.”
Three people have since been arrested in connection with Payne’s death – a hotel employee, an alleged drug supplier, and an acquaintance of the singer related to narcotics distribution. Public prosecutor Andrés Madrea said that during the investigation into Payne’s death, “illicit conduct was discovered from which three people were charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics.”
In a joint statement following his passing, Payne’s former One Direction bandmates emotionally paid tribute to him, saying they are “completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing. In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever.”
