Former One Direction stars attend funeral for Liam Payne

The former members of One Direction came together to mourn the loss of their bandmate Liam Payne at his funeral.

Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson joined friends and family to at the service for 31-year-old Payne, who died after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires last month.

A horse-drawn carriage transported Payne’s coffin to St. Mary’s Church in Amersham, a quiet town 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of London. To maintain privacy and avoid large crowds, the funeral location was kept confidential ahead of the service.

Still, dozens of fans and locals gathered nearby to honour Payne.

The crowd fell silent when Payne’s parents, Geoff and Karen, emerged from a car to stand beside the horse-drawn carriage, which was topped with floral tributes reading “Son” and “Daddy.” Payne had a 7-year-old son, Bear, with the singer Cheryl Tweedy.

Among the mourners was Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy, actor and presenter James Corden, former soccer player Robbie Keane and music mogul Simon Cowell who put One Direction together.

The band formed in 2010 after the five teenagers auditioned for “The X-Factor” as solo acts and were brought together by Cowell, a judge on the show. They went on to become one of the most successful boy bans of all time, selling more than 70 million records worldwide and winning seven Brit Awards.

After the group split in 2016, Payne embarked on a solo career which failed to match the success of One Direction. He was also open about struggling with his mental health and alcohol amid the pressures of fame.

Prosecutors in Argentina said that Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he fell to his death from the third-floor balcony of his room at the Casa Sur Hotel.

Three people have been charged over his death, with “abandonment of a person followed by death” and “supplying and facilitating the use of narcotics.”