I would have thought the proper French name would be Sainte Marie, with an 'e' at the end of 'Saint', since Marie is feminine? There are lots of Sainte Maries on Google, and practically none without the 'e'. I know it's a fictional place with a weird history, and I'm not trying to start a picky fight -- If there's a perfectly rational explanation for its lack, I will be content.
Michael
I've wondered that also. But it doesn't keep me awake at night.
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Anglicised after the British takeover. (Kidding.)
Maybe the 'e' was removed to reduce the similarity to real places of the same name.
Actually you are correct, just look at Port Royal in modern day Jamaica, in the 17th and 18th centuries it was named either Port Royale, Port Real or Port Royal depending on whether it was in French, Spanish or British hands at the time.
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I've started watching the show again, and I noticed it in Season 1. I thought it might be due to the local dialect, and I would love for this to be the case. Then again, it might have been an error made by one of the actors which has been continued. I noticed Danny John-Jules do it the first time, and since he's not a local, he might have simply mispronounced it.
shareAlso notice that the Commissioner has always pronounced Saint in the English way (apart from one episode, can't remember which one, where he actually uses the French pronunciation).
And on that matter, Humphrey tends to pronounce Florence's name in a French way, but there's one instance (again, I can't remember which episode) where he pronounces it the English way.