With the arrival of Carol I as "Domnitor", Sturdza became leader of the "White" conservatives in Iași, also taking up the cause of regionalism; he stirred national controversy by circulating an extreme conservative manifesto known as "Petition of Iași". His views on international politics eventually brought him into a dispute with the moderate conservatives at "Junimea". Shunning "Junimist" Germanophilia, Sturdza became a committed Russophile during the Romanian War of Independence, forming his own group, the National-Democratic Party. This faction broke apart after its members were questioned regarding an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Ion Brătianu; eventually, Sturdza himself was recruited by Brătianu's National Liberal Party in the 1890s. The "Beizadea" was by then dedicated mostly to his non-political work, including attempts to establish his profile as a composer, philosopher, inventor, and art sponsor; his last activities included raising a Sturdza Palace in Bucharest. He was also absorbed and financially exhausted by a long trial involving his family inheritance. Known for his sexual promiscuity and his fathering of illegitimate children, he left a diminished estate that was itself disputed among his progeny.