Prince Barbu Alexandru Știrbey (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈbarbu ʃtirˈbej]; 4 November 1872 – 24 March 1946) was 30th Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Romania in 1927.

[1] Știrbey was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris, and was famous in Romania for his work in modernising the vast estates he owned, and "his model farm was recognized for the exceptional quality of its products".

[6] The National Liberal politician Ion G. Duca described Știrbey: "In a country of talkative people, I haven't met a quieter man, in a society concerned with obtaining effect I haven't seen a man displaying more modesty...Still, behind this banal appearance a tremendously interesting personality was hidden, with penetrating astuteness, exceptional ability and great ambition; a bizarre mixture of willfulness and laziness, decisiveness and fatalism, indifference and slyness.

Brave, at times even daring, even though he preferred shadow to light, a lover of combinations, even though never practising plotting, Ştirbey was the type of the Romanian boyar who knew how to be flexible and sneak by".

[9] His real significance in Romania history arises from his role as close confidant of Queen Marie, who was herself a highly influential figure in Romanian government circles prior to the accession of her son King Carol II, who had a God-complex, to the throne in 1930.

[10] Marie, who had a passionate and romantic personality, wrote in her diary shortly after marrying Ferdinand that he "was not the man to awaken interest in a young girl".

[9] Elisa Brătianu had a longstanding feud with Queen Marie, forcing Știrbey into the uncomfortable role of the peacemaker as he sought to mediate between his sister and his lover.

[18] Știrbey used his influence with Marie to favor the National Liberal Party as he was close to his brother-in-law Ion I. C. Brătianu, whose career benefitted greatly from his friendship.

[19] In opposition to King Carol I, Știrbey favored having Romania enter the First World War on the Allied side, seeing this as the best chance to gain Transylvania, a region of the Austrian empire with a Romanian majority, albeit with large Magyar and ethnic German minorities.

[22] On 27 August 1916, Romania entered the war on the Allied side and was promptly defeated, losing Wallachia, forcing the royal family to retreat into Moldavia to escape the advancing armies of Germany and the Austrian empire.

[23] Știrbey encouraged Marie to strike her populist "Mother of Romania" persona as the Queen became very much the face of the government, constantly being seen to donate money to charities to assist the war-ravaged nation and to work as a nurse taking care of wounded soldiers.

[24] The text of the royal proclamation issued in the temporary wartime capital of Iași by King Ferdinand promising land reform after the war as a reward for the suffering of the Romanian people was written by Știrbey.

The death of Ferdinand marked the end of Știrbey's time as the "grey eminence" of Romanian politics as a regency council governed for the boy king Michael.

[31] In 1940, Boxshall left Bucharest and upon his return to London became an agent of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in charge of encouraging anti-Axis resistance in Romania.

[33] During the war, Turkey under the leadership of President İsmet İnönü leaned in a pro-Allied neutrality and Tanrɩöver made it very clear that he was willing to serve as a middleman should Romania wish to sign an armistice with the Allies.

[34] Știrbey disapproved of the genocidal politics of the government of General Ion Antonescu, which on 22 June 1941 joined with Germany in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion the Soviet Union.

[35] On 6 October 1941, Cretzianu who served as the secretary-general of the Romanian foreign ministry, resigned in protest against the decision to annex Transnistria, and moved to Știrbey's estate at Buftea, where he knew he would be safe from Antonescu's policemen and gendarmes.

[36] After exterminating the Jewish communities in Bessarabia, northern Bukovina and Transnistra, the Antonescu government opened up talks with Germany in 1942 to deport the Jews of the Regat (the area that belonged to Romania before World War I) to the death camps in Poland.

[37] In a report issued by the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem, Știrbey was described as being one of the more proeminent Romanians "active in condemning the racial discrimination and deportations" under Antonescu.

In September 1943, Știrbey used his influence with the king to have Cretzianu appointed the Romanian minister to Turkey, where he let be known that he was willing to serve as a middleman for armistice talks with the Allies[34] On 22 December 1943, in Operation Autonomous, three SOE agents, Alfred Gardyne de Chastelain, Ivor Porter and Silviu Mețianu were parachuted into Romania.

[40] Though promptly captured by the Romanian gendarmerie, the three SOE agents were able to make contact with leading figures in the Antonescu government, warning him that to continue the alliance with Germany would result in disaster for Romania and offered the possibility of an armistice with Great Britain.

[44] Antonescu had become too closely identified with pro-German policies for the Allies to seriously consider signing an armistice with a government headed by him, and Maniu by contrast was the Romanian politician held in the best regard in London and Washington.

Bazna had hopes of becoming rich as a result of his espionage, but the Germans paid him with worthless counterfeit British pounds, causing him to die in poverty.

[42] To keep the "swallow" safe as Știrbey had been code-named from assassins during his trip, bodyguards from the British SOE together with the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) accompanied him.

[45] Shortly after his arrival in Istanbul to take the train to Cairo, Știrbey's trip was leaked to the Turkish press, making his mission more difficult.

[47] On 27 March 1944, Time reported: "Rich, suave, 70-year-old Prince Știrbey was the longtime lover of the late Queen Marie of Rumania, the mortal foe of her moody son, ex-King Carol, the presumed father of her youngest daughter, Ileana.

[42] At his first meeting in Cairo on 17 March 1944 with Allied diplomats, Știrbey declared that everyone in Romania from King Michael on downward were tired of the war and the alliance with Germany, and were looking for a chance to change sides.

[46] The same day that Știrbey started negotiations in Cairo, the Red Army reached the Dniester river, putting him in a weak bargaining position as it was very clear that the Soviets was about to take back Bessarabia and northern Bukovina regardless if Romania signed an armistice or not.

[51] Shortly after the Royal coup of August 23, 1944, he traveled to Moscow with the Romanian delegation that signed on September 12 the Armistice Agreement between Romania and the Soviet Union.

[7] In 1999, she and her husband, Baron Jakob Kripp, sued the Romanian government, arguing that the lands owned by the Știrbey family had been illegally nationalised.