The Aftermath: The Evening The Activist Group Beamed Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, including a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the activist collective Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The act of offering a lavish welcome was viewed as especially servile. Their subsequent creative protest proceeded like clockwork.
A Deliberate Message
The group produced a short documentary detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The president of the United States is alleged to have been a longstanding associate of the nation's most infamous sex offender. His name is said to be referenced, repeatedly, in documents from the investigation into that individual … Now that president, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted all allegations in relation to Epstein.)
The Setup
The activists had secured rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast “castle view” and, even more helpfully, superior castle views, said a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart placed a Bluetooth speaker, concealed inside a cereal box, on top of a garbage can outside.
The world’s media was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored as Trump was delayed. The film, however, gained traction globally. “Although the still pictures of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart notes, “I’m not sure that persuades anyone of anything – it simply makes Trump uncomfortable. The film we made provides viewers something tangible to share, implying: ‘This is something really serious to examine here.’ We took a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”
The Moment of Projection
The film began with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower needs some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “So there’s this royal crest. The police are thinking: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. A wave of shock goes through the officers around me, and the police raced into the hotel.”
Not Their First Protest
This was not 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, officers warned him that any repeat, they couldn’t guarantee.
Confrontation with Police
But, the group's creators were not overly concerned about arrest. “My nervous energy is channelled into wanting the protest works,” says Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” Officers was rapid, reaching the hotel within three minutes, “really pumped up”, Knowles recalls. “They were in tactical gear and caps. They’d finally found some protesters. They charged up the stairs; they were briefed; tasked to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no firearms. But they were very adrenalised when they entered the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’”
Stalling a large number of police officers for six minutes. It helped that officers didn’t know which law to charge anyone. When they finally entered the room, “a policeman started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another asked him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional activists were subsequently detained for malicious communication, a stalking law. “and it’s very specific: it’s designed to address a serious offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, displayed on a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, appeared against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. While the others were detained, he slipped away, shortly thereafter was on a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Some time in the middle of the night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and re-arrested them, now for causing a public nuisance, having decided a stronger charge. When they came to be questioned, the only officers available were from the child protection squad – a twist that was palpable, given the focus of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates just answered all queries with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photograph: “‘Mr Knowles, 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 what was coming: an image of a giant projector, secured to several drawers. Then, the officers were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”
The Outcome
Just over a month later, every charge were dropped.
