Liam Payne’s parents’ moment of comfort for heartbroken Simon Cowell: Music mogul is hugged by the singer’s mother and father after the One Direction star’s private funeral

Liam Payne’s parents Geoff and Karen hugged a heartbroken Simon Cowell as he tried to comfort them after their son’s funeral today.

The heartfelt hug took place outside the church where Payne was remembered during an emotional service following his tragic death at the age of 31.

Cowell’s girlfriend, Lauren Silverman, stood at a distance as the 65-year-old shared a private moment with the grieving couple – who paid a final tribute to the beloved singer with a floral tribute next to his coffin spelling out the word “son.” .

Payne rose to prominence alongside his One Direction bandmates when Cowell put them together to form the group on the ITV talent show The X Factor in 2010.

Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson also attended the service today alongside Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy, who dated Payne between 2016 and 2018.

Simon Cowell is comforted by Liam Payne’s father Geoff Payne (left) after the funeral today.

Cheryl leaves church today after her former partner Liam Payne’s funeral service

Louis Tomlinson leaves the church today with an order of service after the funeral

Liam Payne’s father Geoff and mother Karen arrive for their son’s funeral service today

Liam Payne’s father Geoff and mother Karen stand outside the church ahead of today’s funeral

Liam Payne’s father Geoff stands outside the church today for his son’s funeral

Liam Payne’s coffin is brought into the church as his father Geoff and mother Karen look on

Simon Cowell arrives at the church today, accompanied by his partner Lauren Silverman

Simon Cowell (center) and Lauren Silverman (right) after the service

A horse-drawn carriage carried the dark blue coffin with silver handles, crowned with white roses, to the service at the Home Counties church.

The hearse also contained a red floral tribute with the text ‘son’ and a blue tribute with the text ‘dad’. After the service, his coffin was carried to a black Jaguar hearse.

Bandmate Styles, dressed in black, arrived at the funeral alongside Corden in a BMW. Horan attended with his girlfriend Amelia Woolley, while Malik arrived shortly after Tomlinson.

American influencer Ms Cassidy arrived with Damian Hurley, the son of model Elizabeth Hurley.

Girls Aloud singers Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh, who wore long black coats and sunglasses, supported their bandmate Cheryl.

Main radio DJs Chris Stark, Jordan North and Sian Welby all paid tribute, as did new BBC Radio 2 breakfast presenter Scott Mills, former professional footballer Robbie Keane and presenter Adrian Chiles.

Harry Styles leaves after the funeral of Liam Payne, his former One Direction bandmate

Fellow One Direction member Niall Horan also attended Liam Payne’s funeral

Zayn Malik, who wore a black jacket, jacket shirt and dark sunglasses, leaves the service today

Liam Payne’s horse-drawn coffin arrives at the church

The Order of Service included a photo of the singer smiling, captioned “in loving memory”

A floral tribute where the word ‘Papa’ is spelled out at the funeral

People stand in the door of a church before the funeral service

JLS star and TV presenter Marvin Humes, who met Payne when he first auditioned for The X Factor in 2008, was in attendance with his wife, The Saturdays singer Rochelle Humes.

Before the funeral began, dozens of locals and fans gathered to pay their last 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 a vigil in his memory following his death, while a shrine to the late star was created in his hometown of Wolverhampton.

He died of multiple traumas and “internal and external bleeding,” a post-mortem examination report said.

Following Payne’s death, his One Direction bandmates said they were ‘completely devastated’ and will miss the singer ‘terribly’.

Payne’s friend Kate Cassidy was comforted by her boyfriend Damian Hurley during today’s service

Nicola Roberts, who was in Girls Aloud with Cheryl, was also at the service today

Kimberley Walsh, a former member of Girls Aloud, leaves via the cemetery today

Styles and James Corden attended the service, which was attended by friends and family

Bandmate Zayn Malik at the funeral today

Payne’s casket will be carried out of the church by pallbearers after the service today

A floral arrangement of bowling pins was on display in the church

Liam Payne died on October 16 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires

In a joint statement, they said they would say more in due course, but that it would take some time to “mourn and come to terms with the loss of our brother, whom we loved dearly.”

“The memories we shared with him will be cherished forever,” she added.

The singers also all reflected on their memories of their time together and their love for Payne in individual statements.

After One Direction took an indefinite hiatus in 2016, Payne launched a successful solo career and released his debut solo album LP1 in December 2019, featuring the songs Polaroid and Strip That Down with Quavo.