Harry Styles and One Direction bandmates among mourners at Liam Payne's funeral
by Dan Thompson · Manchester Evening NewsLiam Payne’s One Direction bandmates have arrived at his funeral to pay their respects.
Harry Styles was the first member of the hit boyband to arrive at the church service, which was taking place on Wednesday afternoon. Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik were spotted arriving at the funeral soon after.
Liam was being laid to rest in a service in the Home Counties on Wednesday - a month after falling to his death from the third-floor balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the age of 31.
Liam rose to fame on The X Factor in 2010 as one fifth of the boy band One Direction and his death left fans around the world in devastation. As well as his former bandmates, Liam's girlfriend Kate Cassidy was also seen arriving at the funeral - along with Rochelle and Marvin Humes, James Corden and members of Girls Aloud Kimberly Walsh and Nicola Roberts.
(Image: Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Liam’s ex Cheryl Tweedy, mother to his seven-year-old son Bear Payne, was also expected to be at the service.
Liam's funeral was taking place in one of the Home Counties on Wednesday during a private ceremony closed to the public. The Home Counties are made up of counties that surround London - including Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey.
Liam has connections to the area after living there with Cheryl and Bear during the early years of their relationship It was first thought that one of the churches near Liam's childhood home in Wolverhampton would be where the funeral would take place.
(Image: WireImage)
Members of a private security team took positions on the church grounds ahead of mourners arriving. A choir and musicians were expected to perform at the private service.
Liam's former One Direction bandmate Zayn changed two of his tour dates to enable him to attend the funeral. Zayn's Stairway To The Sky tour, his first ever solo tour since leaving One Direction, had been due to start in the UK this week.
(Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
He had previously postponed the American leg of the tour after Liam's devastating death. The singer told his fans last week that he was rescheduling two of his Edinburgh shows due to "unforeseen circumstances."
The concert, which was set to take place today (November 20), will now take place on December 8 and the show set for November 21 has been rescheduled to December 9.