Dame Sarah Mullally to be formally elected Archbishop of Canterbury
She was named in October, making history as the first woman in the role.
Dame Sarah Mullally is to be formally elected as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury in another step in the lengthy and centuries-old process towards becoming the Church of England's top bishop.
She was officially named in October as the next person to take the leading role, making history by becoming the first woman to do so.
Dame Sarah will remain Bishop of London until a ceremony known as the Confirmation of Election, which will take place at St Paul's Cathedral on January 28.
But today a centuries-old ceremony will take place at Canterbury Cathedral to see her formally elected.
Dame Sarah will not attend.
She was chosen earlier this year by a committee known as the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), chaired by a former MI5 director and made up of religious and lay members of the Church and wider Anglican Communion who had to agree to a new archbishop by a two-thirds majority.
Today's ceremony is a formality dating back to the Reformation and will involve the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral meeting in the religious building's medieval Chapter House to elect the new archbishop, with several legal officers and invited observers in attendance.
Following this, a certificate - stamped with the Cathedral's seal - is issued by the College of Canons to the King, recording the college's decision.
Public declarations will also be displayed at the cathedral and a Letters Patent will be issued in the King's name, confirming the election.
Dame Sarah met Charles at Buckingham Palace on Thursday in what is thought to have been their first official meeting since she was named Archbishop of Canterbury-designate in October.
Following January's ceremony in London, which will see Dame Sarah legally become Archbishop of Canterbury, her enthronement will take place at Canterbury Cathedral on March 25.
In her first public speech when she was named as the next archbishop, Dame Sarah said she intended to "be a shepherd who enables everyone's ministry and vocation to flourish, whatever our tradition", and thanked all those who had "paved the way for this moment".
She also acknowledged the Church's "history of safeguarding failures", which she said "have left a legacy of deep harm and mistrust, and we must all be willing to have light shone on our actions, regardless of our role in the Church".
The 105th archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, formally resigned in early January having announced his intention to stand down two months earlier over failures in handling a safeguarding scandal.