The First Woman to Lead the Church of England Formally Installed at Ceremony Before 2,000 Guests – 10 Exclusive Photos

A centuries-old institution made room for a first on Wednesday, and Canterbury Cathedral has never quite looked like this before. The pictures at the end of this article say the rest.

For close to 15 centuries, the names of the Archbishops of Canterbury have been carved into three stone slabs inside the cathedral that bears the title. 105 names in total, stretching back to St Augustine in A.D. 597, and every single one belonging to a man.

However, two months ago, a stonemason quietly added a new name to the end of that list, and on Wednesday, the world saw what it means.

Dame Sarah Mullally, 63, was formally installed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral on 25 March 2026, becoming the first woman in history to lead the Church of England.

More than 2,000 people filled the cathedral for the occasion, among them William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, and the Prime Minister, alongside faith leaders, healthcare workers, and local schoolchildren.

The service opened at the Great West Door, where Mullally knocked and sought admission. On a day built entirely around first times, it was the schoolchildren who opened the door to let her in.

Inside the cathedral, a mandate sent by King Charles III — who did not attend in person — formally instructing the Church to install Mullally as archbishop was read aloud to the congregation.

Mullally then renewed her vows and her commitments to her ministry before taking an oath before the assembled gathering.

Captured in the 10 photographs at the end of the article, she took her place in St Augustine's Chair — an ancient marble seat whose origins trace to the early 13th century — near the close of the service and delivered her inaugural sermon to those around her.

It was the symbolic start of a ministry that had legally begun in January and now, at last, felt complete.

The Very Rev. Dr. David Monteith, dean of Canterbury Cathedral, had captured it plainly in the days beforehand when he shared, "Installing Sarah as our first female archbishop would have almost been unimaginable even 50 years ago." His next two words carried everything: "Today matters."

The name newly carved onto that cathedral stone reads Sarah Elisabeth Mullally, and the path that brought her to this moment is unlike that of any of the 105 archbishops who came before her.

Born in Woking in 1962, she was one of four children — two sisters, one brother — and a state school pupil who became a Christian at 16. Few could have predicted, at that point, where the thread would lead.

Mullally trained as a nurse, and it was on the wards of the National Health Service where something in her shifted. The work, she has said, felt like "an opportunity to reflect the love of God."

She moved from cancer nursing to ward sister at Westminster Hospital, and eventually to director of nursing at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.

By 37, she was chief nursing officer for England — the youngest person ever appointed to the post — and in 2005, she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire for her contribution to the profession.

And yet, through all of it, something else was pulling at her. Mullally trained for ordination while still serving as chief nursing officer, was ordained in 2001, and left her government post three years later — "the biggest decision I have ever made," she said at the time.

The Church, it turned out, had been waiting. In 2018, she became the first woman ever installed as Bishop of London. On Wednesday, she went one further.

As for her personal life, away from the vestments and the cathedral stone, Mullally is married to Eamonn, an Irish-born IT professional who keeps bees in his spare time. The couple have two grown-up children, Liam and Grace.

As the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, Mullally now leads the Anglican Communion, a body representing some 85 million Anglicans around the world.

In the days before Wednesday's installation, she completed an 87-mile pilgrimage on foot, walking for six days from St Paul's Cathedral in London to Canterbury. No archbishop in the modern era had made that journey before her. She was the first of those, too.

Wednesday's historic moment resonated far beyond the cathedral walls. Online, the reaction was swift — and heartfelt. "A truly historic and meaningful day," one person shared. "Witnessing this moment at Canterbury Cathedral feels especially significant."

Others were less measured in their admiration. "I can't believe in this day and age, people are still outraged by a woman being in a senior position," wrote one commenter.

"It's 2026 not 1626! And it's even more heartbreaking that so many women seem to also be against it too, no doubt because they were made to feel inferior themselves," they continued.

Not every response carried the same weight, naturally. Elsewhere, Mullally's expression in one photo — a wide, unguarded smile at the moment of her enthronement — drew its own wave of lighter remarks.

"Her face says it all! Lol," read one comment. "Similar to my look while I'm on the throne," quipped another. One commenter, apparently struck by how well Mullally looked at 63, went straight to the point, adding, "How did she manage to live so long? What's her secret?"

And then there was the comment that cut through everything else with the single, quietly remarkable observation, "So most likely, this will be the person who will crown Prince William King."

It is the kind of observation that stops you in your tracks — and one that speaks to just how far Wednesday's moment extends beyond the cathedral walls.

Below, find 10 photographs tracing the journey that brought Mullally here — from her early years in the Church to the day her appointment was announced and the moment she took her place in St Augustine's Chair, the first woman in nearly 15 centuries to do so.