Damian Hurley attends Liam Payne’s funeral with singer’s partner

Damian Hurley joined Liam Payne’s partner Kate Cassidy and other mourners at the One Direction star’s funeral on Wednesday (20 November).

Model, director and actor Hurley, the son of actress Elizabeth Hurley, is a close friend of Cassidy, who was Payne’s girlfriend.

Payne died after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last month. He was 31. The police had responded to calls from staff about a man who appeared to be under the influence of “drugs and alcohol” and was found “trashing [his] room”.

Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office subsequently announced that three people have been charged in connection with the singer’s death.

Payne’s funeral was held at St Mary’s Church, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, with Payne’s former bandmates, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik also at the service. Hurley reportedly stayed close to Cassidy throughout the day.

Following Payne’s death, Hurley posted a tribute to his “beautiful friend” Cassidy on Instagram, in which he shared a black-and-white photo of him hugging Payne. “One of the sweetest men I’ve ever met. A devastating loss. Thinking of and sending love to Liam’s family, especially my beautiful friend, @kateecass,” he wrote. 

Also at the funeral were music mogul Simon Cowell and singer Cheryl Cole, who shares her son Bear with Payne.

The Daily Mail reported that Hurley and Cassidy became friends through social media. 

Hurley is the director of thriller Strictly Confidential, in which his mother is seen in a lesbian sex scene. 

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