All local government honours were richly deserved, I am sure, but nothing can compare to the stress of running Birmingham's £3 billion budget while also holding a Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition together.
It's getting a little embarrassing, since Whitby is the first Birmingham council leader in recent times not to have been knighted, with the exception of Labour's Theresa Stewart who, it is said, turned down the opportunity to become a Dame.
Sir Albert Bore received his knighthood when he was only three years into the job, although he did have a proud record of chairing the city's economic development committee during the 1990s.
Sir Richard Knowles, Sir Neville Bosworth and Sir Bernard Zissman were all given the customary big-K.
Could it be the case that Whitby has upset someone powerful along the way?
Or is it possible that, like Mrs Stewart, he has decided to have nothing to do with such an outdated and indefensible system?