Born on 3^rd November 1948 Malcolm Ian Sinclair, the Lord Berriedale (the title given to the eldest son) he inherited the earldom and that title following the death of his father Roderick, the 19^th Earl of Caithness in 1965.

Malcolm's father, Roderick (Roddy) was a distinguished soldier in the British Army with The Gordon Highlanders (now amalgamated with The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to form The Highlanders. He rose to the rank of Brigadier and as such led his regiment (part of the 51^st Highland Division) through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany during World War II. He was decorated with the CBE and DSO and after leaving the Army was appointed the Regiment's Colonel. His first wife, by whom he had three daughters (Jean, Margaret and Fiona), died during the war and after it, in 1946, he married a widow Gabrielle Ormerod, whose husband had been killed on active service in Africa leaving her with a daughter Susie. In 1947 while posted to Germany another daughter, Bridget, was born and the next year, in Burma, Malcolm. The next posting was to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where for three years he was given the position of Commander of their Army with responsibility for the training of their officers to take over from the British ones following independence from a colony. On returning to the UK he was given various postings in England and Scotland before in 1955 being appointed factor (land agent and manager) of Her Majesty The Queen's private Estate at Balmoral, Aberdeenshire where he lived until his death.

Malcolm spent the better part of his childhood there and went to the local village school before, in British fashion, being sent to a boarding school when aged eight. It was a very happy childhood in a large family and he was fortunate to have been brought up in such an attractive part of Scotland with so many outdoor sports and activities readily available. When he was thirteen, he was sent to another boarding school, Marlborough College in Wiltshire, England and which his father had attended. This was quite a contrast from what he had been used to in Scotland and so the holidays became even more precious. His father died when he was sixteen and Malcolm then became the Earl of Caithness. The title dates from 871 when Caithness, Orkney and Shetland were part of the Norwegian Realm and Rognvald, Jarl (Prince or Earl) of Moeri was granted the title of Earl of Caithness and Orkney by King Harald of Norway. In 1455 King James II of Scotland, with Caithness but not yet Orkney and Shetland under Scottish rule, regranted the peerage of the Earl of Caithness to William Sinclair. That is why Malcolm is both the 58^th Earl (including the Nordic dynasty) and 20^th under Scottish law and hereditary chief of Clan Sinclair.