Vinayak Hegde

There are many palaces around Stockholm – Sweden historically being one of the powerful states in Scandinavia. I just blogged about Drottninghom palace where the royal family currently stays. The Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) is the official residence of the royal family and the changing of the royal guards takes place here. From June to August the changing of the Royal Guards with a military band takes pace in the outer courtyard of the Palace at 12:15 hours. Right at the stroke of 12 at noon, the guards who are positioned at the gates and the entrances come together and stand in the formation. The only exception to these are the guards to the entrances where the guards can rest and change.

There is an announcer who explains the significance of the ceremony and narrates the history of the royal guards which is one of the oldest regiments of the Swedish Army. Then the guards who are going to replace the current bunch march to the palace and then salute them. Both of them then stand side by side as one by one the guards in earlier duty are relieved as new guards replace them.

Meanwhile the military band enters the scene from one of the side entrance to the palace and this is the high point of the ceremony as the military band plays traditional Swedish music, classical music from masters such as Mozart and Vivaldi and even popular music from bands such as ABBA and musicals. It is a precision display and very well liked by the crowd as can be seen from the cheering that follows every song. For me, it was one of the high-points of visiting Stockholm. Best of all it is free, though they charge you to see the palace museums (There are three museums in the palace complex).

If you liked this then you may also like to read

• The Vasa – The Titanic of Sweden
• Drottningholm Palace – UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Skansen
• The James Bond of Datacenters
• Walking in Stockholm