What Happened Next: The Evening The Activist Group Beamed Images of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle
When the announcement was made for the former president's upcoming official trip, including a royal dinner at Windsor on September 17th, 2025, the protest group 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 unfolded with precision.
A Deliberate Message
The group produced a short documentary exploring Donald Trump’s relationship with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The commander-in-chief of the United States is alleged to have been a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious sex offender. He’s alleged to be mentioned, repeatedly, in documents from the investigation into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest within Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted all allegations concerning Epstein.)
Preparations and Execution
The group had booked rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, more crucially, superior castle views, said a co-founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart placed a wireless speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, on top of a garbage can outside.
The world’s media had gathered, staring at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, gained traction globally. “While the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart says, “I’m not sure that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uncomfortable. The film we made provides viewers a social object to share, saying: ‘This is something really serious to examine here.’ It was a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.”
The Reveal
It started 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. The police are thinking: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt goes through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police all pile into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
It wasn't the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first effort targeting Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider over 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
However, the group's creators were not overly concerned about detainment. “All my anxiety is channelled into ensuring the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “By the time the police arrive, the message is already out.” Officers was swift, arriving in the lobby within three minutes, highly agitated, Knowles recalls. “They were in jumpsuits and caps. They had located some protesters. They charged up the stairs; prepared; tasked to safeguard the guest. Fortunately, no guns. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this calm.’”
Stalling multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that they didn’t know under what law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “one officer started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three other activists were then arrested for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “The law is precise: its purpose is to address a really concerning offence. Applying it to a piece of journalism, displayed on a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. While the others were detained, he slipped away, shortly thereafter was on a train out of Windsor, contacting legal counsel.
A Second Arrest and Questioning
Some time in the middle of the night, as the detainees sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and re-arrested them, now for public nuisance, having decided a stronger charge. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators belonged to the child protection unit – a twist that was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest concerned Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates just answered every question with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, the officers slid over a photo: “‘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 knew what was coming: a picture of a large projector, secured to four drawers. At that point, the officers struggled to maintain their composure.”
The Outcome
Just over one month later, all charges was dismissed.
