I do not care about my soldiers. I do not care about the arts or the theatre. What I do care about are clothes. I love nothing more than to go walking about and showing off my new clothes. I have a coat for every hour of the day, and if you go looking for me, you will not find me in my council-chamber. You will find me in my wardrobe!

One day, a couple of weavers came to me, and they said they manufactured cloth so fine that the threads were invisible to anyone who was not fit for his office, or who was unpardonably stupid.

I didn’t see the thread that they were showing me, but I wasn’t about to admit that. I told them the cloth must be woven for me at once!

The Well-Dressed Emperor in The Emperor’s New Clothes, Yellow Fairy Book. Illustration by Harry Clarke.