This would've been her second round of interviews with the company.
While the company sounded great and I was hoping my wife could be hired, I actually have to side with the company for promoting internally for the role.
Imagine you've been at the company for years in a junior role. You work your ass off hoping for a promotion. Finally the senior person on your team leaves, which gives you an in. And the company is then like “We'll need someone to fill in this senior position, hopefully someone who knows the job and is familiar with the company….Indeed, here we come!”
I'd imagine if my wife got the job, she'd have at least one angry person below her and possibly some turnover. All the while the bosses will be like “We can't keep staff! What's going on???”