The Unfolding Events: The Evening 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 protest group Led By Donkeys was determined not to let it pass unprotested. The act of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as particularly craven. Their subsequent art-activist event proceeded like clockwork.

A Deliberate Message

The group produced a nine-minute film 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 America’s most notorious sex offender. His name is said to be mentioned, repeatedly, in documents from the criminal probe into that individual … Now that president, Donald Trump, is sleeping here in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein years before Epstein’s initial legal troubles and has consistently denied 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, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a wireless speaker, hidden inside a cereal box, atop a public rubbish bin outside.

The world’s media had gathered, staring at the castle, becoming bored awaiting Trump's arrival. Their film, 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 uneasy. Our documentary provides viewers something tangible to share, saying: ‘This is something significant to look at here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.”

The Moment of Projection

It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower requires a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s this royal crest. The police are thinking: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt goes through the officers around me, and they all pile into the hotel.”

Not Their First Protest

This was not the group’s first rodeo; nor was it their first effort against Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a 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.

The Arrests

However, the group's creators were not especially worried about arrest. “All my anxiety goes into wanting the protest works,” notes Oliver Knowles, another co-founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” Officers was rapid, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, he remembers. “They were in jumpsuits and caps. They had located some protesters. They charged up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to protect the president. Fortunately, no guns. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I had to say: ‘We should keep this really calm.’”

Delaying multiple police officers is a long time. The fact that officers were unsure which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “one officer began reciting a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, which another officer asked him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three other team members were then arrested for malicious communication, a stalking law. “The law is precise: its purpose is to address a really concerning offence. To throw it at an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, shortly thereafter was on a train out of Windsor, calling lawyers.

An Ironic Interrogation

Some time that night, while the activists were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and arrested them again, now for causing a public nuisance, having decided 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 subject matter of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. Knowles and his associates responded to all queries with: “I have no comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “‘Mr Knowles, did you remove the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anyone who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew the next move: a picture of a giant projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the officers were finding it hard to keep a straight face.”

The Final Result

A little more than a month later, every charge was dismissed.