Liam Payne's funeral to be held this week as singer's body flown back home to the UK today

Late singer Liam Payne 's funeral will be held this week, almost a month on from the One Direction singer's tragic death.

Liam died aged 31 on October 16 following a fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His funeral, set to take place in the coming days, will likely be a private celebration of dad-of-one's Liam's life following hundreds of fan vigils across the world over recent weeks.

The X Factor star's body will be flown back to the UK today (November 4) "at the latest". Last week it was reported that Liam's body had been moved from a Buenos Aires morgue to the historic British Cemetery in the northern part of the Argentinian capital, following permission granted to his devastated father Geoff by prosecutors.

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Respected Argentinian daily La Nacion reported that Geoff was personally informed in a recent meeting with prosecution chief Andres Madrea that he could return to the UK with Liam's body two weeks after arriving in the South American country following his son's tragic three-storey hotel fall. It stated: "All the documents are ready for the former One Direction singer to return to his homeland so a funeral can take place there next week. When Geoff Payne reached Argentina on October 18 he was told the repatriation process could take between four and five days, but because of the circumstances surrounding his son's death things took longer than expected."

A petition calling for legislation to protect the mental health of artists in the entertainment industry was launched in the wake of Liam's death. The petition, launched on Change.org last week by a fan of Liam, seeks to "implore lawmakers to create legislation safeguarding the mental health of artists within the industry".

It calls for legislation, dubbed Liam's Law, which would necessitate "regular mental health check-ups, adequate rest periods and the presence of mental health professionals on-set, including any ongoing support during their career". Liam previously said he struggled with alcoholism at the peak of his success, describing hitting "rock bottom" to The Diary Of A CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett, before saying in 2023 that he was sober after going into rehab.

Liam first auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 when he was 14, singing Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon, before he returned to the show two years later aged 16 and was put into One Direction alongside Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles, who went on to be one of the biggest boybands in the world.

A postmortem examination report said Liam died of multiple traumas and "internal and external haemorrhage". Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 previously said it was investigating the incident as an "inconclusive death". Liam is shrived by his son Bear, seven. Liam shared his only child with Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy, who he was in a relationship with from 2016 to 2018.

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