His maternal grandparents were Jane Maitland Hathorn-Stewart and Arthur Johnstone-Douglas, a member of the extended Marquess of Queensberry family.

A prominent historian, Lord Kinross was a writer noted for his biography of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and works on Islamic history.

Having been separated by World War II when Balfour was posted to Cairo, she started a five-year relationship with Major Robert Hewer-Hewitt with whom she had two sons, Mark and Johnny.

[8] He is buried in "Lords Row" in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh with all previous ancestors of the title Baron Kinross.

In 1974 John Betjeman wrote the poem For Patrick: aetat LXX published in his A Nip in the Air, with a footnote giving Balfour's name and title.