Liam Payne's mum and dad suffered agonising heartbreak over One Direction fame

Former One Direction vocalist Liam Payne's parents, Karen and Geoff, couldn't person been prouder erstwhile helium changeable into the spotlight - but it besides came with immense sadness

Liam's parents laid their beloved lad to rest this week - but it wasn't the archetypal clip they've had to accidental a heartbroken goodbye.

The precocious One Direction vocalist died, aged 31, portion connected vacation successful Argentina past month. His devastated household and friends, including the mother of his seven-year-old lad Bear Cheryl Tweedy, gathered for a backstage ceremonial ceremonial successful Amersham connected Tuesday.

The beauteous work commemorated Liam's beingness and his relation arsenic a son, member and father. His grief-stricken parents, Karen and Geoff Payne, were seen leaving the religion arsenic they consoled euphony mogul Simon Cowell, with the trio sharing an affectional infinitesimal together.

Following the funeral, a person of the household told Mail Online: "Geoff is simply a lovely, beauteous man. He struggled with Liam becoming famous. It was Simon who gave Liam truthful much, but besides the 1 who took him distant arsenic specified a young man, truthful it indispensable person been hard for Geoff."

Liam changeable to fame connected The X Factor, aged 16, and signed to Simon's euphony statement SyCo - past ultimately, ne'er came location again. When helium jetted disconnected astir the world connected tours, his parents shared however hard it was to spot him go. Geoff said that helium mourned missing "rites of passage" with his teenage son, similar buying him his archetypal beer.

On 1D's 2013 film, This Is Us, helium opened up: "I don't deliberation we get to spot him enough. There's a batch said astir the mum's tone and feeling. But dads bash consciousness it arsenic well, particularly astatine 17, you'd similar to person that lad astir you. All I had to connection him was to instrumentality him drinking and playing snooker.

"I didn't truly person an atrocious batch to connection him, but that's portion of your constitution arsenic a young man, and that clip went. I've missed it. I've missed it. He's the lone fella successful the family, he's gone."

In the documentary, mum Karen, a nurse, appeared with a lifesize cardboard cut-out of her son. She said: "If I person this, I tin inactive spot him each day." She sobbed: "He near location my small lad and became the lad successful a magazine. When I spot him connected stage, I perfectly burst with pridefulness but we bash miss him truthful much."

Reflecting however hard it was to fto him go, Karen said: "I shed tears conscionable looking astatine him. They go idiosyncratic successful a paper oregon a mag to you. I ever believed Liam would marque it, but ne'er this big. Never successful my wildest dreams. He goes distant for truthful long."

Following Liam's tragic death, his household released an affectional statement: "We are heartbroken. Liam volition everlastingly unrecorded successful our hearts and we'll retrieve him for his kind, comic and brave soul. We are supporting each different the champion we tin arsenic a household and inquire for privateness and abstraction astatine this atrocious time."