He was the eldest son of Ronald Leslie-Melville, 11th Earl of Leven and the former Emma Selina Portman (1863–1941).
[2] His father was a very wealthy landowner and resided at Holyrood Palace when he was Lord High Commissioner of Scotland.
"[7] Lord Leven died, unmarried, on 11 June 1913, "caused by injuries sustained in the hunting field",[5] which was later determined to be "an accidental death".
[7] A year later, his brother, a Lieutenant in the Second Dragoons, Royal Scots Greys, was wounded during the "cavalry fight in Waterloo".
[10] Lord Leven was left behind when his regiment retreated and later escaped from a German prison disguised as a refugee.