FROM ageing rockers to bright young things, those parading across the stage at this week's Jubilee concert spanned the generations. But there was one glaring omission - the punk era.

I was a teenager 25 years ago when the Sex Pistols topped the charts. My memories of the Silver Jubilee are inextricably linked with images of rebellious youths with brightly coloured Mohican haircuts, safety pins in their noses and ripped clothes, pogo-ing to vicious, tuneless rants.

Most of those young rebels, who now probably wear suits and work in banks and the civil service, were left wondering why their place in music history had been erased on Monday night as the nation relived 50 years of pop music.

But punk did at least make a brief reappearance in our village, where a brave and daring band of 16-year-old boys all dressed in black, with tall, spiky hairdos, played their third ever gig at our jubilee party. And there was something so quintessentially English and endearing about those serious, snarling, angst-ridden youths spitting out their chaotic music for everyone from blue-rinsed old ladies to the tiny tots bopping about in the marquee on the village green.

Of course, the original punks would never have played at a party in praise of royalty. But these boys weren't even born back in 1977 when the Sex Pistols were singing their anti-monarchist rant God Save The Queen. Even punks respect Her Majesty now.

WHILE the Jubilee celebrations have been a great success, the Royals should remember what a fickle thing popularity can be. It wasn't that long ago, after Diana's death, that the public was cold, even aggressive towards the Royal Family. Then, Tony Blair appeared to capture the mood of the people.

Yet this week, I have read nothing but complaints about our once golden couple, Tony and Cherie. Now they are being criticised for everything from sitting down before the Royals to shaking hands with the public at the wrong time. Poor Cherie has been lambasted for not wearing a hat in St Paul's, yawning, and singing and dancing too enthusiastically at the pop concert. What a difference a few years makes.

COMING from Northern Ireland, I unfortunately associate villages and towns bedecked with Union flags with aggressive, hardline communities out to intimidate Catholics. Until recently, even in England, such flag-waving has too often been associated with the inflammatory antics of pro-BNP supporters. It made a welcome change to see the Union flag flying so joyfully and jubilantly in a non-sectarian environment this week.

PRINCE Charles has been criticised for referring to the Queen as "mummy" in public. But I am used to this as, in Ireland, most grown men and women still touchingly refer to their parents as "mammy and daddy". This usage is so widespread it is hard to shake off, even after decades of living elsewhere. In Ireland, it feels false and affected to use any other term. To my mind, Prince Charles wasn't being a wuss, but a real man. He was showing his genuine, heartfelt affection for the Queen, and he didn't care what others thought.