Bear Payne has left a heart-breaking tribute to his late father Liam Payne.
At the One Direction singer’s funeral on Wednesday, fans spotted a touching floral arrangement with blue and white flowers that spelt out ‘Daddy’.
Bear, eight, and his mum Cheryl Tweedy both attended the funeral in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, alongside Liam’s friends and family, including his parents Geoff and Karen, his two sisters Nicola and Ruth and fellow One Direction band members.
Liam’s funeral
It was a sombre occasion to commemorate the life of Liam, who tragically died on 16 October aged 31 after he fell from a third-floor balcony at Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died from multiple injuries as well as internal and external bleeding after his body was found in the hotel’s internal courtyard, a post-mortem examination said.
An investigation has been launched into his death by prosecutors, and three people have been charged in connection with the incident.
Behind Bear’s unique name
Cheryl and Liam welcomed Bear on 22 March 2017 but took a while to decide what to name their bundle of joy, with Liam leaning towards more traditional names compared to Girls Aloud singer Cheryl’s preference for the unusual.
Onthe Late Late Show with James Cordon, Liam revealed that the sweet moniker had come about because a midwife in the delivery room described the baby as “a little bear”.
“He had this thing where if they don’t have a good cry, they get fluid in their lungs, which is quite serious, so he was like going ‘grrrr.’
“I had like 10 doctors come in the room, and in the end, the guy was just like, ‘Dude, I’m not being funny. There’s nothing wrong with him. He just likes to make a lot of noise.’ And that’s carried on ever since, so he just became Bear.”
Liam also gave his little boy the nickname of ‘Cub’.
Bear’s birth story
When Bear was born in 2017, Liam announced the happy news via social media.
He wrote: “I’m incredibly happy to welcome our new baby boy into the world, it’s a moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life and my favourite memory I have so far.
“I’m completely in awe of his incredible mother and how she has been the whole way through this, she’s really made my dreams come true.”
Liam and Cheryl had been together for a year when Bear was born.
