Hi, my wife is from Portugal and has lived in England since

Hi
Thank you for your question and patience, I’m Tom and I’ll try to help you.
Basically, it might have been possible for her parents to simply have applied for a UK passport before she was 18 but I think that her right to do this would have lapsed once she became an adult.
EEA nationals (as she is) have to follow a certain route to becoming a UK citizen. Once you have been in the UK exercising your treaty rights (eg by working, studying or being self sufficient) for 5 years then you can apply for confirmation of your Permanent Residence in the UK. This is the right to stay permanently in the UK regardless of whether you are exercising your treaty rights. You can apply for it here and you will see the positon is confirmed at the bottom of the page on the above link:-
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-a-permanent-residence-card-form-eea3
Basically, she could probably argue that she has this already because of the length of time that she has been here. However, by applying for confirmation she will get a bit of peace of mind which will help when she applies to naturalise as a uk citizen because the fee to become a UK citizen by naturalisation is quite expensive and you really want to be sure that you have the correct evidence.
Once she has permanent residence she can apply to naturalise as a UK citizen 12 months after the date that she receive confirmation of her permanent residence if you (ie Barry) are NOT a UK citizen, providing that you meet the naturalisation criteria on the following page:-
https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen/check-if-you-can-apply
If you (barry) are a UK citizen then she can apply for as soon as she receives permanent residence, rather than waiting a further 12 months provided that you meet the UK spouse requirements of naturalisation on the following page:-
https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen/if-your-spouse-is-a-british-citize
Once she has her naturalisation certificate she will be a UK citizen and can then apply for your UK passport in the normal way
My goal is to provide you with a good service. If you feel you have received anything less, please reply back as I am happy to address follow-up issues specifically relating to your question.
Kind regards,
Tom