Times Liam Payne Met The Royal Family

Liam Payne, who died on October 16 at the age of 31, was known by many for being a member of the boy band One Direction. As a wildly popular musical group from the U.K., Payne had multiple run-ins with the royal family, and he also met with royals after the group's split in 2015 as he was pursuing his solo music career. From meeting Catherine, Princess of Wales when she was pregnant to paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, Payne had unique experiences with the royal family over the course of his life.

The members of One Direction first met William, Prince of Wales and Kate Middleton at the Royal Variety Performance in 2014. This event is a fundraiser for the Royal Variety Charity, which aims to support folks in need who have worked in the entertainment industry. This particular meeting was a special occasion, not only because it was the group's first time meeting royals, but also because it took place just six months before Kate would give birth to her and William's second child, Princess Charlotte. In November 2015, One Direction's fifth and final studio album, "Made in the A.M." was released. While this was surely a monumental day for the group for that reason, it was also the day they met Harry, Duke of Sussex. Once again, the group's royal run-in took place at the Royal Variety Performance.

The next time Liam Payne attended an event alongside a royal family member was without his fellow One Direction members. In 2017, Payne went to Buckingham Palace to attend the Queen's Young Leaders reception. This program was created by the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust to build a group of young leaders who had an impact on their communities. At the event, Payne saw Prince Harry again, as well as meeting Queen Elizabeth II for the first time — something that clearly had an effect on him. Per Teen Vogue, Payne posted about the occasion on Instagram, writing,  "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."

While this meeting was evidently important to Payne, it wasn't his only chance to meet the queen. He met her again in 2018 after the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey. The monarch passed away four years later in 2022, and Payne didn't miss the opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary royal. A few months after her death, Payne took to Instagram to share a portrait he was painting, featuring the queen in her youth wearing a crown. "Unfinished oil canvas I painted of the Queen," he wrote, per Independent, adding, "This is 4.5 feet tall and took about 50 hours ... RIP HRH."