Activists mounted a photograph of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor inside the Louvre in Paris on Sunday 22 Feburary, in a stunt timed to follow his arrest last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The anti-billionaire campaign group behind the action, Everyone Hates Elon, posted a video of them hanging the photograph on Instagram with the caption “They say 'hang it in the Louvre' So we did.”
The image of the former Prince being driven away after his release from police detention in Norfolk, England, on 19 February was taken by Reuters photographer Phil Noble.
Placed in a gold-like frame, it carried the caption “He's Sweating Now — 2026”—a phrase lifted from the front page of that evening's edition of The Sun newspaper.
The photo and caption were reportedly on display for 15 minutes before Louvre staff removed them. A spokesperson for the activist group said: “We thought we'd show the former Prince Andrew how the world will remember him by putting up this iconic arrest photo at the Louvre. Let's hope this is just the start. Justice for all Epstein survivors.”
Jeffrey Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor in 2008. He died in prison in 2019 in what was ruled a suicide, while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday (19 February) on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Authorities are investigating allegations that he shared confidential British government documents with Epstein while serving as the United Kingdom's trade envoy. He has not been charged.
The US Justice Department has released emails that appear to show Mountbatten-Windsor sharing reports from official trade visits with Epstein in 2010. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has not responded publicly to the latest allegations.
Misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in the UK.
The caption is a reference to Mountbatten-Windsor's infamous 2019 BBC interview with Emily Maitlis when he claimed he didn't sweat. This was a rebuttal to allegations by Virginia Giuffre, who said the King's brother was “sweating profusely” while dancing with her at a London nightclub. Giuffre accused Mountbatten-Windsor of sexually assaulting her in the early 2000s when she was 17 and alleged she was sex trafficked by Epstein. She filed a civil lawsuit in 2021 against Mountbatten-Windsor, who denied the allegations. The case was settled out of court in February 2022 for an undisclosed sum.
The Louvre has not commented on the incident. Lydia Starbuck, the editor-in-chief of the independent website for news on royalty Royal Central, described the photograph itself as already “one of the defining images of the [British] royal family in the 21st century,” and one that captured “the fall from lofty heights of a former prince”.
The royal commentator Sarah Hewson told the ABC Australia news channel that the image “will go down in history and is a photo that will haunt him for the rest of his life”.