Mourners have begun gathering for the funeral of One Direction star Liam Payne, with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy among the first to arrive.
Payne, 31, died on October 16 after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
Girls Aloud singers Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh have been dropped off in front of the church’s entrance wearing long black coats and sunglasses.
Among the guests expected to attend the private funeral, being held at St Mary’s Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, are his former One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson.
Dozens of locals and fans have also gathered outside the church to pay their final respects.
The entrance of the church which is hosting the service has been decorated with candle lanterns and white roses that have been arranged in surrounding shrubbery.
Following Payne’s death fans around the world held vigils in his memory, including a shrine to the late star in his hometown of Wolverhampton.
He died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”, a post-mortem examination report said.
Payne rose to fame alongside Styles, Tomlinson, Malik and Horan when Simon Cowell put them together to form One Direction on ITV talent show The X Factor in 2010.
He had first auditioned in 2008 when he was 14, singing Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon, with judge Cowell telling him to return to the talent show two years later.
In 2010 he impressed the judges with Michael Buble’s version of Cry Me A River before being put with four other solo hopefuls at the boot camp stage of the competition – the group which later became One Direction.
Payne 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.
One of his most well-known songs, For You, was a collaboration between him and singer Rita Ora for the film Fifty Shades Freed.
He and Girls Aloud singer Cheryl, who were in a relationship between 2016 and 2018, share a son, Bear.
