Take Back Power activists target Ritz and Crown Jewels in protests

Manure under a 25ft Christmas tree in Mayfair and custard splashed over the Imperial State Crown display case turned Take Back Power’s debut into a test of how far symbolic protest can go before it becomes criminal damage. The new group, which described itself as a non-violent civil resistance campaign, said it wanted a permanent citizens’ assembly with power to tax extreme wealth.

At The Ritz Hotel on Wednesday 3 December 2025, three supporters emptied bags of manure beside the lobby tree and held placards reading “INEQUALITY IS S**T” and “TAX THE RICH.” The action was aimed at what the group called the “obscenely wealthy,” a message built around the politics of inequality rather than the kind of persuasion that relies on broad public sympathy. Instead, it leaned on shock, scent and spectacle inside one of London’s most recognisable luxury hotels.

Three days later, on Saturday 6 December 2025, activists moved from Mayfair’s wealth to one of Britain’s most protected symbols of state power. At the Tower of London’s Jewel House, they threw apple crumble and poured yellow custard over the glass case protecting the Crown Jewels. The display was temporarily closed, but Historic Royal Palaces said the Crown Jewels were not damaged and the Tower later reopened. Police arrested four people after the incident.

The target mattered. The Imperial State Crown is a working crown used by the monarch at state openings of Parliament and other official moments. It was worn by King Charles III after his coronation in 2023 and again when he opened Parliament in 2024. Hitting that case meant more than humiliating a hotel or embarrassing a visitor attraction. It meant pushing a wealth-tax campaign into the realm of national symbolism, where public tolerance tends to narrow and the state’s response tends to harden.

Metropolitan Police later charged eight people in connection with the Ritz and Tower protests. One person was linked to both incidents, meaning seven individuals in all faced charges. Take Back Power emerged after Just Stop Oil disbanded in April 2025, and its choice of manure, custard and high-profile heritage sites suggested a movement still hunting for attention in the vacuum left by its predecessor. The question now is whether that attention can still convert into persuasion, or whether the performance has started to overwhelm the message.