The emperor in this story is persuaded by two crooks who promise to sew him a new dress from fabric that is invisible to fools. This, they tell him, will enable him to spot any fools in his court. After spending a long time at the empty loom, the crooks give the king the “invisible dress.” The emperor cannot see the dress, but afraid of being a fool himself, he acts as if he sees it, and ‘wears’ it on a parade through town.
This tale shows us, how cunning crooks can deceive anyone, even the emperor himself and his loyal advisers, but children don’t know how to pretend. They say what they see, even if there is a naked emperor in front of them. Perhaps one of the funniest tales of H.C. Andersen, exposing the stupidity and vanity of the ruling elite.