Four people were arrested Tuesday night in the United Kingdom in connection with the projection of an image onto Windsor Castle showing President Donald Trump with his then-friend, notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The stunt came as Trump began a state visit to the U.K.and as the president has been dogged by months of controversy over the Justice Department‘s decision not to release law-enforcement files related to Epstein.
The Independent newspaper reported that, in addition to the image showing Epstein in 1997 with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-lag club in Florida, other images projected onto Windsor Castle included Trump’s mugshot from when he was charged in Atlanta with crimes related to his effort to undo his 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia.
Windsor Castle, which is a royal residence of King Charles III, is located about 25 miles outside London.
Thames Valley Policewhose jurisdiction includes the castle, said in a statement, “Four adults were arrested on suspicion of malicious communications following a public stunt in Windsor.”
“All four remain in custody at this time,” police said.
“We take any unauthorised activity around Windsor Castle extremely seriously,” said Chief Superintendent Felicity Parker. “Our officers responded swiftly to stop the projection and four people have been arrested.”
“We are conducting a thorough investigation with our partners into the circumstances surrounding this incident and will provide further updates when we are in a position to do so,” she said.
Portrait of American financier Jeffrey Epstein, left, and Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1997.
Davidoff Studios Photography | Archive Photos | Getty Images
Trump and Epstein had been friends for years before the two men fell out in the mid-2000s.
Epstein, 66, killed himself in a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019, a month after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges lodged by a U.S. Attorney whom Trump had appointed.
King Charles’ brother, Prince Andrew, has been tainted by his own friendship with Epstein. In January 2022, Andrew’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, stripped him of his military affiliations and royal patronages as he fought a New York lawsuit that accused him of sexually abusing an underage girl while she was in Epstein’s control.
Melania Trump, Prince Andrew, Gwendolyn Beck and Jeffrey Epstein at a party at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000.
Davidoff Studios | Getty Images
Andrew denied any wrongdoing, but a month after the queen’s move, he settled out of court that lawsuit by the accuser, Virginia Giuffre, on undisclosed terms.
But that document also said that Andrew, 61, will make “a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights.”
Last week, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired the British ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, after a U.S. House committee released documents related to Epstein, which included a letter from Mandelson in which he called the sex offender his “best pal.”
Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwellis serving a 20-year prison term after being convicted of procuring underage girls to be sexually abused by him.
