Prince Barbu Ştirbey was briefly Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Romania

Kingdom of Romania

The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...

 in 1927. He was the son of Prince Alexandru Ştirbey and his wife Maria Ghika-Comăneşti, and grandson of another Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbey (born Bibescu, adopted Ştirbey), who was Prince of Wallachia and died in 1869.

He married Princess Nadèje Bibescu about 1895, and had four daughters.

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

Carol II of Romania

Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...

 to the throne in 1930.

Ştirbey and Queen Marie were lovers, and Ştirbey was probably the father of her youngest child, Mircea

Prince Mircea of Romania

Prince Mircea of Romania .Mircea was the third son and youngest child of Queen Marie and King Ferdinand of Romania...

, and possibly the father of Ileana

Princess Ileana of Romania

Princess Ileana of Romania was the youngest daughter of Ferdinand I of Romania, King of the Romanians, and his consort Queen Marie of Romania. She was born Her Royal Highness Ileana, Princess of Romania, Princess of Hohenzollern...

.

Shortly after the Royal coup of August 23, 1944

Romania during World War II

Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...

, he traveled to Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

  with the Romanian delegation that signed on September 12 the Armistice Agreement between Romania and the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Ştirbey was one of the plenipotentiary

Plenipotentiary

The word plenipotentiary has two meanings. As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers." In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat fully authorized to represent his government as a prerogative...

 signatories of Agreement; the other signatories were Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu

Lucretiu Patrascanu

Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania , also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he was a professor at Bucharest University...

, Dumitru Dămăceanu

Dumitru Damaceanu

Dumitru Dămăceanu was a Romanian army officer in World War II, later promoted to Brigadier-General, who played a predominant role in the Royal coup of August 23, 1944....

, and Ghiţă Popp on the Romanian side, and Rodion Malinovsky

Rodion Malinovsky

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was a Soviet military commander in World War II and Defense Minister of the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s. He contributed to the major defeat of Nazi Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Budapest...

on the Soviet side.