 Deslys had many admirers among royalty, most notably King Manuel II of Portugal, and her origins became the subject of dispute.A private detective claimed her true name was "Hadiwga Nawrati", or "Hedvika Navrátilová", and that she was a Czech peasant girl, born in the village of Horní Moštěnice, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary.The investigator reported that Deslys had denied her alleged mother's claim to kinship when he brought her to see the dancer, paying her a large amount of money to leave.