Why will Siri NOT read new text messages on NEW XR but does on 11MAX when iPhones are locked w/AirPods?

We have 2 iPhones. Both on iOS 13.3. I have an 11PRO MAX since October and my wife has a brand new XR which was just upgraded from an iPhone 8. When my 11PRO screen is locked SIRI always reads new messages when I ask when wearing my Airpods

On my wife's brand new iPhone XR Siri says "iPhone must be unlocked first" when asked to read new messages when wearing AirPods. On her previous iPhone 8 there was NEVER a problem doing this.

I Googled this issue and found many suggestions and every one was tried and/or implemented. Both our phones are setup IDENTICAL in every setting that I can think of that may have some connection to SIRI including in the "Siri & Search" section, Allow SIRI when locked, Bluetooth section, Accessibility

section and messages section. This is driving her nuts (and me too since I have been messing with it for hours).

Any ideas? Yes, I have reset, re-added and removed her Airpods probably 20 times. I have rebooted the XR probably 20 times. I have even swapped AirPods between us. Could it be that the iPhone 8 to iPhone XR update was a "backup and restore" rather than fresh install? I'd really hate to have to redownload ALL those apps from scratch especially if it doesn't help!

Thanks & Happy New Year!