Liam Payne Had Several Brushes with Royalty, from Queen Elizabeth to Kate Middleton, Prince William and Prince Harry….read more

As a member of the popular group One Direction, Liam Payne met members of the royal family on numerous occasions — and also mingled with royalty after he pursued a solo career following the group’s split.

Payne, 31, died on Wednesday, Oct. 16 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Along with his other One Direction bandmates, Payne met Prince William and Kate Middleton — then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — at the Royal Variety Performance on Nov. 13, 2014.

William and Kate, now both 42, were attending the annual performance in London for the first time since they married three years prior, and Kate was pregnant with daughter Princess Charlotte at the time, who would arrive six months later on May 2, 2015.

Performing that evening at the event were One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Bette Midler, Shirley Bassey, Demi Lovato and Ellie Goulding, who performed at the current Prince and Princess of Wales’ wedding in 2011.

After the performances, the royals met the performers, and a clip of Kate meeting Harry Styles made the rounds on TikTok years later.

After the event, Styles said that he told Kate “congratulations on the bump … [though] she didn’t look bumpy,” per Newsweek.

At that same 2014 performance, comedian Jack Whitehall addressed the royal box — where the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were sitting — during his set to tell Kate that he had attended Marlborough College at the same time she did (before she attended the University of St. Andrews and met William there).

“I don’t know whether it’s appropriate, given the circumstances,” Whitehall said on stage. “But you were probably my first ever crush.”

Kate gave an embarrassed laugh in response.

Speaking afterwards, Whitehall said that Prince William teased him about the joke later that evening: “William came over and he was very funny, he was very nice but very passive aggressive,” Whitehall said, revealing that William told him, “Oh, so you were flirting with my missus? Oh no — that was very funny.”

The next year, in 2015 — coincidentally on the same day One Direction’s final album Made in the A.M. was released on Nov. 13 — the group met Prince Harry at the same event and same venue.

(The show, which dates back to 1912, raises money for the Royal Variety Charity, which helps hundreds of entertainers across the U.K. in need of aid.) Elton John, Kylie Minogue and Ricky Martin performed in 2015, and Prince Harry, now 40, had a memorable encounter with another Harry — Styles himself.

According to PEOPLE the prince jokingly asked Styles, “When was the last time you had a hair cut?” Afterwards, Styles clarified that “at some point I’ll be cutting it [his hair] for charity.”

Two years later, in 2017, Payne attended a Queen’s Young Leaders reception at Buckingham Palace for young leaders who worked hard to make a difference in their local communities.

This time, Payne attended without his One Direction bandmates, as the group split the year prior and were pursuing solo careers — Payne included. While there, Payne met Queen Elizabeth and saw Prince Harry once more.

An absolute honour to meet the Queen today on such a fantastic occasion.

Privileged to share the room with such inspirational @queensyoungleaders, hear their stories and how they are helping to rebuild and preserve a sometimes broken world,” Payne wrote on social media afterwards.

In 2018, Payne met Queen Elizabeth again, this time after the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on March 12.

In December 2022, three months after her death at age 96 on Sept. 8, Payne shared an oil painting in tribute to the late Queen that was over 4 feet tall and took the singer 50 hours to create, according to the Independent.

Payne was announced dead Wednesday after falling several stories at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires on Oct. 16, Policía Federal Argentina confirmed to PEOPLE.

Per a 911 call translated by publications including Sky News  and the BBC, the hotel’s chief receptionist spoke to police after becoming worried about Payne’s behavior.

A translation of a La Nacion transcript said that the employee presumed Payne (who was not identified by name on the call) was “under the influence of alcohol and drugs” and insisted that someone needed to come “urgently” to the location.

The worker also mentioned that Payne’s life might be “in danger” because he was “in a room with a balcony,” per Sky News.

“We’re afraid he could do something that threatens his life,” said the manager — who said his name was “Esteban” — according to the outlet.

On Thursday, Oct. 17, a preliminary autopsy revealed that Payne died from multiple injuries and “internal and external” hemorrhages after falling from his hotel balcony, the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE.

The prosecutor’s office handling the case says a toxicology report remains pending.

The British singer got his start in music on The X-Factor in 2010, after the judges teamed him up with fellow solo contestants Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson to form One Direction.

Though the group didn’t win the show, they still skyrocketed to superstardom and became one of the most prominent boy bands in history.

The pop-rock band released four highly successful studio albums and garnered a massive global fanbase — with Payne co-writing hits like “Midnight Memories,” “No Control,” “Steal My Girl” and “Night Changes” — before member Malik left the group in 2015.

Following the release of their final album in Made in the A.M. sans Malik, One Direction announced in 2016 that the band would be going on an indefinite hiatus, and each remaining member — Payne, Styles, Horan and Tomlinson — embarked on their respective solo careers.

Payne kickstarted his career as a solo singer-rapper in 2017 with hit track “Strip That Down” featuring Quavo, which has over 1 billion streams on Spotify.

He released his first solo EP, First Time, in 2018, and his first and only studio album, LP1, the following year.

Payne is survived by his 7-year-old son Bear Grey, with his ex, Girls Aloud singer Cheryl.