The Unfolding Events: The Evening Led By Donkeys Beamed Images of Trump and Epstein onto 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 known as Led By Donkeys was determined to ensure it did not go unprotested. The gesture of offering a lavish welcome seemed especially servile. Their next art-activist event unfolded with precision.
A Provocative Film
The group produced a short documentary exploring the connections with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The commander-in-chief of the United States is alleged to have been a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. His name is said to be referenced, repeatedly, in documents from the criminal probe into Epstein … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is sleeping here within Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he ended his friendship with Epstein years before Epstein’s first arrest and repeatedly refuted all allegations concerning Epstein.)
The Setup
The group had secured rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast “castle view” and, more crucially, superior castle views, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. For audio, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, concealed within a box of cereal, on top of a garbage can outside.
International press was assembled, staring at the castle, becoming bored as Trump was delayed. The film, however, spread rapidly globally. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump went viral online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. Our documentary gives people something tangible to share, saying: ‘This is something really serious to examine here.’ We took a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed 20m times.”
The Moment of Projection
It started with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “It requires a cylindrical building needs some technical calibration,” Stewart explains. “First appeared the royal coat of arms. Officers likely thought: ‘Ah, that’s nice – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. This electric jolt passed through the police in fluorescent jackets nearby, and they all pile into the hotel.”
A History of Activism
It wasn't the group’s first rodeo; nor was it their first effort targeting Trump. Back in 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a motorized paraglider near the resort where the then-president was staying in Scotland. The following year, police visited him that if he tried again, his safety wasn't assured.
The Arrests
But, the group's creators weren't especially worried about arrest. “My nervous energy is channelled into ensuring the protest works,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police arrive, the message is already out.” Officers was swift, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, highly agitated, Knowles recalls. “Wearing tactical gear and baseball caps. They’d finally found some protesters. They charged up the stairs; prepared; they were on a mission to protect the president. Thankfully, no guns. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’”
Delaying a large number of police officers is a long time. The fact that officers didn’t know which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “one officer started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop because it wasn’t right.” Knowles and three additional team members were then arrested for malicious communication, a stalking law. “The law is precise: it’s designed to address a serious offence. Applying it to an act of journalism, projected on to a wall, to protect 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, contacting legal counsel.
An Ironic Interrogation
Later in the middle of the night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and arrested them again, 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 not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. The activists responded to all queries with: “No comment.” A few minutes into the interview, police presented a photograph: “They asked, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anybody else who may have had reason to remove the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated what was coming: a picture of a giant projector, secured to several drawers. Then, the detectives were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”
The Outcome
A little more than one month later, all charges were dropped.
