Tower of London bosses plan for garden in the moat to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022

The Tower of London has long been an imposing feature of the UK capital’s skyline and boasts defences which once kept invaders out. 

But its moat is set to be transformed into a Commonwealth-themed garden as part of efforts to attract new swathes of visitors for the Queen’s platinum jubilee in 2022. 

Historic Royal Palaces, which manages the tower, has unveiled an artist’s impression of how the moat could look to mark 70 years since the Queen’s coronation. 

The picture shows the space transformed with trees, manicured hedges and snaking walkways for tourists to navigate. 

The moat was previously transformed in 2014 when thousands of ceramic poppies were installed to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of World War One. 

Historic Royal Palaces chief executive John Barnes said the planned garden could be a ‘key moment’ for the return of tourists, according to The Times.

The tower has been closed since March as part of coronavirus lockdown measures. 

Mr Barnes said his organisation’s modelling was predicting that it may be 2022 before overseas visitors, who account for around 65 per cent of its income, return in major numbers.  

‘We know that tourism gets a boost during a jubilee and usually there is a halo effect afterwards,’ he told The Times. 

He added that he is trying to ‘nudge’ civil servants and the government to ‘focus’ on the project to boost visitor numbers. 

Investment in what he called ‘jubilee spectacles’ would ‘kickstart’ domestic and overseas tourism, he said.  

He was trying to ‘nudge’ civil servants and the government ‘to be a little out of crisis mode and focus ahead,’ he said.

The garden will be themed around the Commonwealth but its creation would require financial support from the Government.

Historic Royal Palaces has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with predictions of a £110million turnover for this financial year reduced to £14million.