The Unfolding Events: The Night The Activist Group Projected Images of Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle

When the announcement was made for Donald Trump’s upcoming official trip, including a royal dinner at Windsor on 17 September 2025, the activist collective Led By Donkeys was determined to ensure it did not go without a statement. The gesture of offering a lavish welcome seemed particularly craven. Their subsequent art-activist event proceeded like clockwork.

A Deliberate Message

Activists created a nine-minute film exploring the connections with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The president of the United States was a longstanding associate of the nation's most infamous child sex trafficker. His name is said to be referenced, numerous times, in the files from the criminal probe into that individual … Now that president, Donald Trump, is a guest in 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 concerning Epstein.)

The Setup

The group had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast views of the castle and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a high-lumen 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart placed a wireless speaker, concealed within a box of cereal, atop a garbage can outside.

The world’s media had gathered, staring at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, spread rapidly globally. “While the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “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, implying: ‘There’s something really serious to examine here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen by millions.”

The Reveal

It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “It requires a cylindrical building requires a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “First appeared the royal coat of arms. Officers are thinking: ‘Ah, that’s nice – the royal family,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock passed through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and the police raced into the hotel.”

A History of Activism

It wasn't their inaugural action; it wasn’t even their first action against Trump. In 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a motorized paraglider over the resort where the president was staying in Scotland. A year later, officers warned him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee.

The Arrests

But, the group's creators were not especially worried about arrest. “All my anxiety is channelled into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was swift, arriving in the lobby within three minutes, “really pumped up”, Knowles recalls. “Wearing jumpsuits and baseball caps. They’d finally found some protesters. They charged up the stairs; they were briefed; they were on a mission to safeguard the guest. Fortunately, no guns. But they were very adrenalised upon entering the room. I had to say: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’”

Stalling multiple police officers is a long time. The fact that officers were unsure which law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “a policeman started reading a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three additional team members 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 an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart says archly. 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 that night, while the activists were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and re-arrested them, now for causing a public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the only officers available belonged to the child protection unit – an irony which was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. Knowles and his associates responded to all queries with: “I have no comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “They asked, did you remove the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anybody else who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew the next move: a picture of a large projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the detectives struggled to keep a straight face.”

The Final Result

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