Hans Christian Andersen first published “The Emperor’s New Clothes” in 1837.
The tale appeared in Copenhagen on 7 April 1837 in the collection Fairy Tales Told for Children. It satirizes vanity, dishonesty, and social pressure through an emperor who is persuaded that invisible clothing proves intelligence and fitness for office. A child finally states the obvious: the emperor is wearing nothing.
Readers sometimes assume the story originated entirely with Andersen. Its plot is related to an earlier Spanish story recorded in the 14th-century collection El Conde Lucanor, but Andersen reshaped the material and gave it the memorable ending and social tone now associated with him.
The phrase “the emperor’s new clothes” has become an English idiom for a situation in which people pretend to see value or truth because they fear challenging a popular belief. The tale’s 1837 date also matches the first publication of “The Little Mermaid.”