A fan-organised memorial for former One Direction singer Liam Payne welcomed a turnout of thousands in Hyde Park yesterday.
Over 2,500 fans came together from 1.30pm until sunset to honour the singer by leaving flowers, candles and handwritten letters at the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens.
Hundreds of people queued for hours for the chance to say goodbye.
Payne, 31, died unexpectedly on Wednesday after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sofia Artamonova, 20, one of four fans who organised the memorial via social media, said: “I feel like I’ve lost a friend, not just an artist – I grew up with Liam.”
Another organiser Alicia Sinclair, 22, added: “Not a lot of people understand what we’re feeling, not a lot of people get it.
“Having all of us here together means that we’re able to feel what we need to feel – if we need to cry, if we need to hug a stranger, we can do that around people who understand.”
One-minute silences were held at 3pm and 4pm in remembrance of the singer, who shot to fame in 2010 as a member of globally-loved boyband One Direction.
Throughout the day fans sang One Direction songs, including the band’s final 2015 single History, and shared cookies around the crowd.
Andreea-Catalina Sisu, 18, said she has barely stopped crying since hearing of Liam’s death.
She said: “I’m here today because I wanted to feel close to Liam one last time, and cherish everything we got from him.”
Many people at the memorial, like Sophie Mitchell, 30, have been fans of Payne’s since he first auditioned for UK singing competition The X Factor in 2008, aged 14.
Mitchell, who travelled from Brighton to attend the memorial, said: “Liam and One Direction got me through my darkest days.
“I’ve been very chronically ill basically my whole life and I didn’t really see anything positive for years and years, but when I became a fan of One Direction they gave me something to fight for.
“It’s been so beautiful today to see so many other fans, but being here has finally made it sink in for me that Liam isn’t going to come back.”
When Payne returned to The X Factor in 2010, he was put in a band alongside fellow contestants Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.
One Direction’s global popularity led Payne to struggle with his mental health, and in 2019, he shared that he sometimes couldn’t leave his house due to bad anxiety.
Estela Camacho Batalha, 17, said: “Hearing that Liam was dealing with his mental health really touched me because I’m also suffering with it.
“Now I have a reason why I want to stay here more, for him.”
When sharing memories of Payne with each other, fans at the memorial frequently mentioned the kindness he showed fans and how this affected them growing up.
Maria Denise Banghal, 17, said: “I’ve changed for the better because of One Direction through Liam’s legacy.”
Organiser Hollie Owers, 28, said: “Our kindness comes from absolutely them role-modelling it to us.
“Every time one of the members announces a show, we come together as a fandom and say ‘this person hasn’t got a ticket, can we pay for them?’
“Those boys gave us that ability and that kindness with each other for a stranger to come up to me today and ask me for a hug because they haven’t hugged anyone since Liam passed as they don’t feel like people understand.
“We have created our own family.”
Fan-organised memorials for Payne have been held all over the world, including Paris, Moscow, New York, and Payne’s hometown, Wolverhampton.
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