Prince Harry isn’t shying away from questions about his marriage to Meghan Markle.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you know that the Duke of Sussex and his California-born wife have supposedly been on the outs in recent months. That’s what insiders have been claiming, at least. And it doesn’t help that the couple has had a TON of extremely noticeable separate public appearances this fall.

In fact, rumors of a rift in their relationship have begun to rumble so loudly that it’s become impossible for the 40-year-old Englishman to drown it out any longer. So, on Wednesday, Harry flipped the script and addressed split allegations head on! While Meghan stayed back in Cali — where she was expected to attend Wednesday night’s Paley Honors Fall Gala in Beverly Hills — Harry popped up at the New York Times‘ DealBook Summit in the Big Apple!

Harry joined DealBook founder and NYT columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin on stage for an event at the summit. During their chat, Sorkin prodded Prince William‘s estranged little bro with an uncomfortable question about his marriage to the Suits alum, and the fact that the couple has been seen separately a LOT of late:

“I Google Newsed you, and there were people fascinated by everything you’re doing, all the time. They’re fascinated by Meghan is in California right now, and you’re here. And there’s articles left and right about, you know, ‘Why are you making, doing independent events? Why aren’t you doing them together?’”

To that, Prince Harry jokingly replied:

“Because you invited me, you should have known!”

Sorkin and the audience both let out a laugh to ease the tension, per People. Then, the moderator continued with that line of questioning:

“True. Is that normal for you? The second there’s an article — she’s in California, you’re in New York — they say, ‘Well, what is happening with these two, right?’ Is that a good thing for you, in a way, that there’s so much interest in you?”

That last question is probably the most obvious one ever asked! Harry immediately replied that it was “definitely not a good thing” that the public has so much interest in the pair. He then joked about how he and Meghan have supposedly divorced a dozen times by now based on all the unsubstantiated rumors:

“No, that’s definitely not a good thing. Apparently we’ve bought or moved houses 10, 12 times. We’ve apparently divorced maybe 10, 12 times as well. So it’s just like, ‘what?’”

But don’t worry, y’all — Harry isn’t glum over the endless drumbeat of divorce allegations. Instead, he actually feels sorry for his trolls and haters! Seriously?! He revealed:

“It’s hard to keep up with, but that’s why you just sort of ignore it. The people I feel most sorry about are the trolls. Their hopes are just built and built, and it’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,’ and then it doesn’t happen. So, I feel sorry for them. Genuinely, I do.”

Hmmm… is that really true, or is that cope?!

Regardless, King Charles‘ estranged son then smartly acknowledged how Wednesday’s on-stage conversation with Sorkin will also be “spun or twisted somehow against me.” Then, to the DealBook head directly, Harry quipped:

“And maybe you yourself will be trolled relentlessly. For that, I can only apologize, but you did invite me, so it’s not my fault.”