Older Ipad mini vs new Ipad air 11

No, the Gmail email address cannot be added as an iCloud account in Settings ➜ Apps ➜ Mail ➜ Accounts ➜iCloud, because its not an iCloud address it's a Gmail address.

If the gmail email address it was being used as the Apple ID's username, it should be logged in Settings ➜ Apple ID directly, and the associated iCloud account is automatically added to the Mail app.

If you want to have her get her Gmail email through the default Apple Mail app, then you have to add it as Gmail account by selecting Google from the list in Settings ➜ Apps ➜ Mail ➜ Accounts ➜ Add Account.

That's the confusing part. Was she using her Gmail email account or was she using an iCloud email address that is associated with the Apple ID that is using that gmail address as its user name.

That's the important distinction.

Watts57 wrote:

The issue is once I get into Settings ➜ Apps ➜ Mail ➜ Accounts ➜ iCloud and attempt to add her email address it wont allow us to add her Gmail address. It only allows iCloud addresses. Her email address is in her settings and I have Mail set as default but it wont open to allow us to interact or use it in place of her Gmail app.

This may be where you a going wrong.

Regular (non Apple) email accounts are not added within your iCloud settings.

The correct path to add a new email account to your iPad:

Settings > Apps > Mail > Mail Accounts > Add Account

For Gmail, use the Google option - and follow the on-screen prompts.

Your post is a bit confusing, let's see if we can clarify a bit.

iCloud Email's can be stand alone iCloud account / Apple Account directly or one that uses Gmail Address as the "user name" for the Apple Account.

If she was using her Gmail address as her Apple ID, there would be an additional iCloud email address associated with it.

She can also just use the Gmail account in the Mail app by adding it in Settings ➜ Apps ➜ Mail ➜ Accounts ➜ Add Account.

This will use the Gmail account to send and receive emails, but would still be separate to the associated iCloud email address.

Logging into Settings ➜ Apple Account on her new iPad Air with the correct Apple ID would make the associated iCloud email address available in the default Apple Mail App to send and receive emails.

You can verify the email address was added in Settings ➜ Apps ➜ Mail ➜ Accounts ➜ iCloud

When sending email, she would need to select the appropriate account by tapping on the Cc,BCc,From line in the email composer.