What Happened Next: The Evening The Activist Group Beamed Images of Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle

When plans were revealed for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, including a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys was determined to ensure it did not go unprotested. The act of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their next art-activist event unfolded with precision.

A Provocative Film

Activists created a short documentary exploring the connections with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The commander-in-chief of the United States is alleged to have been a long-time close friend of the nation's most infamous sex offender. His name is said to be mentioned, numerous times, in documents related to the criminal probe into Epstein … And now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein years before Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted all allegations concerning Epstein.)

The Setup

The group had secured rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast views of the castle and, even more helpfully, superior castle views, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, atop a garbage can outside.

The world’s media had gathered, their gaze fixed at the castle, growing restless as Trump was delayed. The film, however, gained traction globally. “While the still pictures of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart says, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. The film we made provides viewers something tangible to share, saying: ‘There’s something really serious to examine here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”

The Moment of Projection

It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower needs some technical calibration,” Stewart explains. “So there’s this royal crest. The police are thinking: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and then abruptly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. This electric jolt passed through the police in fluorescent jackets nearby, and they raced into the hotel.”

A History of Activism

It wasn't their inaugural action; it wasn’t even their first effort against Trump. In 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a motorized paraglider near the hotel where the president was staying during a visit to Turnberry. The following year, police visited him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee.

The Arrests

But, the activists were not overly concerned about arrest. “My nervous energy goes into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police arrive, the message is already out.” Officers was swift, reaching the hotel within three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “They were in tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; prepared; tasked to protect the president. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were very adrenalised when they entered the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this calm.’”

Stalling multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers were unsure which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “a policeman began reciting a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three additional activists were then arrested for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “The law is precise: it’s designed to deal with a serious offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, displayed on a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, appeared contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. While the others were detained, he melted into the crowd, shortly thereafter was on a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel.

An Ironic Interrogation

Later in the middle of the night, while the activists sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and arrested them again, now for public nuisance, having decided a stronger charge. During interrogation, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection squad – a twist which was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. The activists just answered all queries with: “I have no comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photograph: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anyone who may have had reason to remove the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated the next move: an image of a giant projector, secured to several drawers. At that point, the detectives were finding it hard to keep a straight face.”

The Final Result

A little more than one month later, all charges were dropped.