The Unfolding Events: The Evening The Activist Group Beamed Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle

When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on 17 September 2025, the protest group known as Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go without a statement. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as especially servile. Their subsequent art-activist event proceeded like clockwork.

A Provocative Film

The group produced a nine-minute film exploring the connections with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The commander-in-chief of the United States was a longstanding associate of America’s most notorious sex offender. His name is said to be mentioned, repeatedly, in documents related to the criminal probe into Epstein … And now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein years before Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted all allegations concerning Epstein.)

Preparations and Execution

The activists had booked rooms in the nearby Harte and Garter hotel, which boast “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 placed a wireless speaker, hidden within a box of cereal, atop a public rubbish bin outside.

The world’s media had gathered, staring at the castle, becoming bored as Trump was delayed. Their film, gained traction everywhere. “Although the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I’m not sure that convinces people of anything – it just makes Trump uncomfortable. Our documentary gives people a social object to share, saying: ‘There’s something significant to look at here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”

The Moment of Projection

The film began with the official Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto the castle's round tower needs some technical calibration,” Stewart explains. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. Officers likely thought: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and suddenly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. A wave of shock goes through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and they all pile into the hotel.”

A History of Activism

This was not their inaugural action; it wasn’t even their first action against Trump. In 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider over the hotel where the president was staying in Scotland. The following year, police visited him that any repeat, they couldn’t guarantee.

Confrontation with Police

However, the activists weren't especially worried about detainment. “All my anxiety goes into wanting the action to succeed,” says Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was swift, reaching the hotel within three minutes, highly agitated, Knowles recalls. “Wearing jumpsuits and baseball caps. They’d finally found the culprits. They came roaring up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no guns. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I told them: ‘We should keep this calm.’”

Delaying a large number of police officers is a long time. It helped that officers were unsure 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, before another asked him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional activists were then arrested for malicious communication, a law related to harassment. “The law is precise: it’s designed to address a really concerning offence. To throw it at an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of 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, shortly thereafter was on a train out of Windsor, calling lawyers.

An Ironic Interrogation

Later that 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 – an irony that was not lost on anyone, given the subject matter of the protest involved alleged sex offender. The activists just answered all queries with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photo: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anybody else who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated what was coming: a picture of a giant projector, ratchet-strapped to four drawers. Then, the detectives struggled to maintain their composure.”

The Outcome

Just over one month later, all charges was dismissed.