Princess Beatrice goes public with boyfriend, despite controversy

Princess Beatrice has gone public with her new boyfriend, despite the controversy that surrounds how they first got together.

The British royal and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi attended the Berggruen Prize Gala at the New York Public Library on Monday night, where they were spotted mingling with a bevy of A-listers, including Karlie Kloss and Rupert Murdoch's ex, Wendi Deng, Hello! reports.

The couple was not photographed together at the swanky event, though Beatrice did pose with pal, Kloss, while wearing a black maxi dress with a fringed cape and belt.

Beatrice and Edoardo have been dating for several months now and are moving "very quickly" with one another. So quickly, in fact, that friend suspect they could get engaged soon.

"They've been on holiday together and Beatrice introduced him to Fergie and her dad," a source told The Sun. "Things are moving very quickly and it wouldn't surprise anyone if they got engaged within a short period of time."

"They could even be tying the knot in 2019," the source continued. "It's already been discussed by her friends."

All of this despite the somewhat contentious nature of the beginning of their romance. The family of Edoardo's ex-fiancée of three and a half years, Dara Huang, with whom he shares a 2-year-old son, says that the couple lived together weeks into his relationship with Beatrice.

"Why would they want to go and break this up?" the fiancée's father said in an interview this week. "I can't understand it. It's not fair, but the royal family are so powerful. What can I do? I can't do anything."

A palace source contends that there wasn't any overlap in the relationships, though.

"She would never allow herself to break into another couple's happiness," the aide said of Beatrice. "Especially is there was a small child."