CO-OWNER of the Camelot Castle in Tintagel, John Mappin, has been invited to meet Donald Trump's family to thank him for his support during Mr Trump’s successful bid to become President of the United States of America.

Back in late November, Mr Mappin won over £110,000 after placing 36 bets with William Hill that Mr Trump would win the presidential election.

Throughout his campaign, Mr Mappin used his Camelot Castle TV social media hub to promote Mr Trump’s leadership, reaching out to over 1.5-billion people, which attracted the attentions of some of the most senior executives at Trump Towers, while he and his wife Irina, who is of Russian descent, carried out dozens of interviews for media outlets from all over the world.

In recent years, Mr Mappin has developed a friendship with some of the more senior executives at Trump Towers.

He had just flown into the United States to get a sense of the public feeling towards the news of Mr Trump’s win when he received a text from one of the senior executives, asking whether he could take a call at 10.30am from Washington.

At 10.32am, the senior executive called him before passing the phone over to Mr Trump’s son, Eric. They then enjoyed a 15-minute chat, discussing a number of things, although the exact contents of that chat will remain confidential.

However, Eric has invited Mr Mappin and his wife to visit the family in the coming months, an opportunity which he will take up when he feels the timing is right, although with Mr Trump’s inauguration taking place tomorrow [Friday 20] he has no immediate plans to do so.

Mr Mappin said: “I had no idea of a possible phone call from the Trumps but it was amazing. We spoke for about 15 minutes and it was really nice to talk to him.

“He thanked us for all of the support we have shown them and that shows what kind of family they are. To actually call up and take the time to thank somebody, and talk and listen to them when they have so much going on is amazing and is a great sign for the future that such an important family did that.

“Not only have they invited us to visit them, we have also invited the Trump family to Camelot Castle whenever they are in England and they have indicated that they would be more than happy to do so. It’d be great to have them in Tintagel, which is the best holiday destination in the UK.”

The story of Mr Mappin winning his bet on the US presidential election went viral, and it seems to have gained the attention of some of Russia’s richest people.

Mr Mappin explained: “A few weeks ago we had a very interesting and rather amusing approach to Camelot Castle from the Swiss lawyer of a private but totally bonafide Russian billionaire/oligarch who wanted to buy the Camelot Castle estate, which isn’t for sale at this time. We rather playfully, rather than seriously, suggested that the Russian oligarch make us an offer that we can’t refuse.

“As Camelot Castle is both a national treasure and a British icon and is now the home to an international media group with a social media audience of over 1.5-billion viewers, any bidder would have to be most importantly both a suitable and appropriate owner as well as have noble qualities to own a British national treasure and also have extremely deep pockets.

“Perhaps the potential Russian buyer had noted Camelot Castle’s ability to influence through the introduction of positive ideas through social media, so we’ll see whether they come back with another offer!”

One Russian Mr Mappin would certainly like to meet is President Vladimir Putin.

With his wife’s family coming from Russia, and the USA and Russia having a somewhat sketchy relationship at present, Mr Mappin is hoping that they can help sooth tensions between the two countries so they can be united to make the world a better and safer place.

Mr Mappin said: “Russia and the US and the UK should be friends. We should not fall prey to the old fashioned out of date narrative that the Russians or other countries are ‘out to get us’. They, like us here in Britain and over in the US, are all normal people who just want to work hard and enjoy their life.

“A Trump presidency is good for the UK and the global economy and foreign relations. Our leaders should be a little more respectful to him and to the democratic will and democratic process of the American people and try to understand President Trump’s political economic and foreign policies before judging him.

“The American people have spoken and chosen their president so what right have we got to say that they are wrong and I’m sure that President Trump will improve relations between the US and Russia.

“It’d be great if we could eventually have Mr Trump and President Putin around the ‘Round Table’. Mr Putin should be commended for his noble deeds throughout the holiday period and that’s the sort of qualities we want to see in world leaders and I hope that an informal summit can take place at Camelot Castle.”

When Mr Trump’s inauguration starts tomorrow at midday (5pm GMT), Mr Mappin will be celebrating with his family and a number of guests.

Mr Mappin added: “We will have a toast and a nice evening in Camelot Castle tomorrow night [Friday]. I own one of the last ever bottles of ‘Trump Vodka’ and I think it might be time to open it up and celebrate Mr Trump’s success and then in a few weeks time when everything has settled down we will sort out a time to go and visit them.”