They paid their in the chill of autumn, a reflection of the cold finality respects

STANDING outside the quiet cemetery of St Mary's Church, beneath a frigid Amersham sky, I watched as Liam Payne made his final journey.

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

The air was cold, a sharp contrast to the humid 28 degree heat of Buenos Aires, where, just weeks before, I had seen his father, Geoff, grieving at the site of the singer's tragic fall.

Now, back in England, as the earlier morning frost made way for bright sunshine, Liam's devoted dad was there again fulfilling the unbreakable promise he made to his family to remain by their boy's side as Liam's coffin was carried into the church.

In Argentina, I witnessed Geoff arrive in a haze of grief, determined and unrelenting.

He entered the hotel where Liam had drawn his last breath, driven by a father's instinct to protect and hold on to his child, even in death.

In the heat and under the weight of tragedy, he had refused to leave, clinging to the memory of his son.

His strength cut through the chaos that swirled around Liam's sudden and devastating passing.