The Aftermath: The Evening The Activist Group Beamed Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle

When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on September 17th, 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The act of rolling out the red carpet seemed particularly craven. Their next art-activist event proceeded like clockwork.

A Deliberate Message

The group produced a nine-minute film detailing the connections with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The president of the United States was a long-time close friend of the nation's most infamous child sex trafficker. His name is said to be mentioned, numerous times, in documents from the criminal probe into Epstein … And now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here within Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and has consistently denied any wrongdoing concerning Epstein.)

Preparations and Execution

The activists had secured rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, hidden inside a cereal box, on top of a garbage can outside.

The world’s media had gathered, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored as Trump was delayed. The film, however, spread rapidly everywhere. “Although the still pictures of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. Our documentary provides viewers something tangible to share, saying: ‘This is something really serious to look at here.’ We took a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.”

The Reveal

The film began with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto the castle's round tower requires a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “First appeared this royal crest. Officers likely thought: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock goes through the officers nearby, and the police raced into the hotel.”

Not Their First Protest

This was not the group’s first rodeo; nor was it their first action targeting Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider near the hotel where the president was staying in Scotland. A year later, officers warned him that if he tried again, his safety wasn't assured.

The Arrests

However, the activists weren't overly concerned about detainment. “My nervous energy goes into wanting the protest works,” says Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” Officers was swift, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, highly agitated, Knowles recalls. “They were in tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They charged up the stairs; prepared; tasked to safeguard the guest. Fortunately, no firearms. But they were extremely tense when they entered the room. I had to say: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’”

Delaying multiple police officers is a long time. The fact that officers didn’t know 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 team members were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a stalking law. “and it’s very specific: its purpose is to address a really concerning offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, displayed on a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, appeared against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. As his colleagues were arrested, he melted into the crowd, then soon after boarded a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.

An Ironic Interrogation

Later in the middle of the night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and arrested them again, this time for causing a public nuisance, having decided more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators were from the child protection squad – a twist that was palpable, given the focus of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. The activists responded to all queries with: “I have no comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “‘Mr Knowles, did you remove the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anyone who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated the next move: an image of a giant projector, secured to several drawers. At that point, the officers were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”

The Outcome

A little more than a month later, every charge were dropped.