The attack came almost a year to the day when the military toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, unleashing an extensive crackdown on his supporters and setting off a deadly militant campaign.
It was not immediately clear if President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who led Morsi's ouster, was at the palace at the time of the twin bombings.
Police officials said a first bomb went off wounding three street cleaners while the second exploded killing the colonel and wounding three policemen as bomb disposal experts were trying to defuse it.