The Royal Guard is normally divided in two parts, the main guard stationed at the
Stockholm Palace, and a smaller detachment at
Drottningholm Palace. The Royal Guards units has continuously guarded the Swedish royal family in
Stockholm since 1523. The duty of forming a "Royal Guard" is rotated by all serving regular and reserve armed forces, including the
Home Guard. However, these detachments only serve for about 5–7 days in each rotation, so most of the year the duty is carried out by the
Life Guards regiment of Stockholm, consisting of four
battalions, one
light infantry, two
security, and one guard battalion. Tracing its history through the
Household Brigade and Svea Life Guards and Life Guard Dragoons back to the original Royal Guards, this is what constitutes the regiment's claims to being one of the
oldest military units and formations in continuous operation. The
Grenadier Company is the
honor guard of the
Swedish Army's
Life Guards for state ceremonies. Their uniform includes
bearskin hats, and white
baldrics (cross belts) that originally carried the fuses used to light grenades. The grenadiers bear the King's own Life Company banner, which was presented to the unit in 1868 by
Charles XV's consort,
Queen Louise. Between April and August, the mounted
squadrons in light blue
full dress uniforms and silver
pickelhaube helmets and the
companies in dark blue full dress uniforms with black pickelhaube helmets, both of the Life Guards, can be seen in Stockholm street
parades and around the Royal Palace. Accompanied by the mounted
band, they depart from the K1 Cavalry barracks in
Gärdet, and arrive at the Palace around noon (1 p.m. on Sundays and
public holidays) for the changing of the guards ceremony. These events attracts large numbers of tourists each summer. In the regular guard mounts, the regular royal guard contingent is composed of the personnel from the King's Guards Battalion, Life Guards. == Gallery ==