Inside Liam Payne and Bear's special bond and nod to their sweet tradition at funeral

Former One Direction singer Liam Payne was a very proud father to his seven-year-old son Bear, whom he shared with Cheryl Tweedy, before he tragically died last month

Many meaningful touches made Liam Payne's funeral a personal celebration of his life.

The late One Direction singer was laid to rest on Wednesday in Amersham, as his family, friends and old bandmates gathered for a private ceremony. Girls Aloud icon Cheryl Tweedy, the mother of his seven-year-old son Bear, is said to have had a big role in the planning of the day.

After the church service, Liam's loved ones reportedly gathered in the garden of the late star's mansion and mourned their huge loss. According to reports, with them stood a pair of life-sized dinosaurs - one grey and the other green - which had pride of place in the grounds of Liam's home, and remained there for the post-funeral get-together.

The dinosaurs are said to have had special meaning to Liam, who reportedly bought them online a decade ago, as a comical present to himself. When he became a father in 2017, Liam and Bear "bonded" over them. The singer transported them to his Surrey home when he moved house and kept them in his back garden.

A source, reportedly a friend of Liam, told Mail Online: "The dinosaurs brought out his inner child and made him happy when things around him were not going so well. And then there was Bear – what little boy wouldn't want to play with them? It was a place of fond memories, so to remember Liam there was special."

Liam was 23 years old when he became a dad and just 31 when he tragically died. Liam and Cheryl were together for two and a half years before they announced their split, one year after the birth of their 'beautiful, healthy boy' in March 2017. Cheryl posted the news of their child on Instagram with a picture of the 1D star holding the baby.

She wrote: "On Wednesday 22nd March Liam and I became parents to an incredibly beautiful, healthy baby boy, weighing 7lb 9 and looking like a dream. Although he still doesn't have a name he is already stealing hearts. We are all madly in love and overwhelmingly happy with our little arrival."

Cheryl added: "Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers around the world. A day that now has a different meaning to me forever." Before ultimately deciding on the name Bear, the former couple shared their struggle about whether their son's moniker should be traditional or modern.

In May 2017, Liam told Total Access about their debate: "It was like an internal battle. I wanted a more traditional name and she wanted a name that was more unusual. And the reason she chose Bear in the end was because Bear is a name that when you leave a room, you won't forget. And I like that. When I look at him, he's just Bear."

Liam added: "At first, I wasn't really having it. I was like, 'I'm not really sure. I don't really understand'. Now, I look at him and he's Bear. You become your name as you get older anyway." A few months later, Liam shared how one of the midwives at his birth called him 'Bear' in the delivery room, and the name carried on.

He told James Corden on his show: "He had this thing where if they don't have a good cry, they get fluid in their lungs, which is quite serious, so he was like going 'grrrr'. I had like 10 doctors come in the room, and in the end, the guy was just like, 'Dude, I'm not being funny. There's nothing wrong with him. He just likes to make a lot of noise.' And that's carried on ever since, so he just became Bear.."

Mindful of his celebrity status, Cheryl and Liam chose not to share any pictures of Bear's face. But the 1D singer revealed in 2020 that his then-three-year-old son looked like him. He said: "He looks exactly like me, which is very strange. When family members see baby pictures of me now, they say, 'Oh wow, Bear looks really great there!'"

In 2018, the parents announced their split but vowed to remain close to raise their son. A statement read: "We are sad to announce that we are going our separate ways. It's been a tough decision for us to make. We still have so much love for each other as a family. Bear is our world and we ask that you respect his privacy as we navigate our way through this together."

Two years before Liam's death, he opened up about his life as a father and his relationship with his son. Speaking about his quality time with Bear, he told People in 2022: "I see him two times a week, three times a week sometimes. And I make sure when I see him, he has 100 percent of my time. I make sure that I'm not on my phone or d***ing around somewhere else."

Liam continued to touchingly share how much fatherhood meant to him, and how young Bear needed him too. He told the US publication: "So, I like to give him those moments and it's important, he needs that in his life, he needs his dad in his life, and I'm happy he looks at me like a superhero, and I'm hoping to keep it that way."