"Paul Higgins is a life-long pact" — Fans show love for Liam Payne's bodyguard, who was seen accompanying 1D members at the funeral

Liam Payne's funeral was held at St. Mary Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on November 20. Among the familiar faces attending the private gathering was Paul Higgins, the tour manager for One Direction back in the 2010s, and later Payne's personal bodyguard.

Higgins was captured greeting all of Liam's bandmates at the gathering, which attracted the attention of social media, with many netizens praising the former for his dedication to the One Direction members.

"Paul Higgins always there 💔 One direction 🤝🏼 Paul Higgins is a life-long pact," wrote a fan.

Some netizens admired him for protecting and supporting Liam's family, while others commended his decision to stand by the deceased singer's family after his retirement.

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"paul higgins you will always be loved by me," wrote an X user

"Paul was and is still loved by directioners, seeing his reactions and gaze reminds me that he is also grieving and doing his job at the same time, protecting Liam's family now and supporting them, after 14 years is still here. Paul higgings, we love you," commented another user.

"from protecting them from fan mobs to escorting them to one of their funerals paul higgins i have so much respect for you," replied a third netizen.

Paul Higgins is the founding director of All Star Security and has been well-known in the security industry for over 20 years now, as per his website. Besides Payne, Higgins has also worked as a personal bodyguard for Niall Horan and Yungblud. Meanwhile, others also commented:

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"seeing paul higgins come out of retirement, his last job being the bodyguard for one direction, to now being the family bodyguard for liam’s family has me broken," wrote another one.

"the fact that paul higgins was there waiting for each of the boys as they arrived to walk them in, a familiar face who they spent so many precious years with, a man who understands what they’re going through, is so special. protected them as teens, now protecting them as adults," commented another X user.

"Heartbreaking. Paul took care of Zayn Louis Harry and Nail and even Liam at his funeral," replied a sixth one.

Paul Higgins also accompanied Liam Payne's father on his trip to Argentina

Liam Payne's funeral isn't the first time Paul Higgins made an appearance to aid his loved ones. While Higgins wasn't working with Payne at the time of his death, he accompanied his father, Geoff Payne, to Argentina on October 19, as he flew down to visit the CasaSur Hotel, where Liam was staying before his death.

While at the hotel, he was seen visiting the singer's hotel room and conversing with the staff. The security executive later supported Geoff as he identified his son's body and began the process of having him returned to the UK.

Grazia reported that Paul also worked with Argentine law enforcement to establish the circumstances leading to the 31-year-old's death.

Liam Payne's funeral was also attended by his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy

Besides Liam Payne's family, the One Direction stars, and Paul Higgins, Kate Cassidy was also seen at his funeral, where she arrived in a long black fur-trimmed coat, black trousers, and a pair of boots.

Cassidy was accompanied by her friend, Damian Hurley, to the gathering, who stayed by her side throughout the event. The influencer also paused in front of the floral arrangement of the bowling pins and balls, which was on display at the front.

Kate was well aware of Liam's love for bowling and had joked about it last month, before his death. She uploaded a TikTok video of the couple at the bowling alley, captioning it: "He drags me to bowling at least four times a week."

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